Students’ discards add up to a bonanza of recyclable goods

By Ajay Singh

Finals week is a hectic time for students – after taking all those exams they must pack their belongings and move back home for the summer. For many, getting rid of unwanted clothes and appliances is a huge challenge.

That’s why the Office of Residential Life (ORL) puts on a weeklong “clothes-out” drive every year. From June 10 through June 16, tons of discarded belongings can be diverted from trash to donation bins bound for the Goodwill Industries.

“The idea is to reuse and reduce,” said Robert Kadota, assistant director of ORL, emphasizing the familiar mantra of sustainability. “Students usually come in one car, driven by family, but spend all year buying stuff that never really fits in one car.” He added: “We warn parents that the stuff will probably fit in two cars.”

To get their stuff down to a manageable size, students were dropping everything from clothes and shoes to lamps and ironing boards into 15 three-tier plastic donation bins scattered all over the Hill, the residential area encompassing Dykstra Hall, Rieber Court, De Neve Plaza, Hedrick Court and Sunset Village.

“Donate to a Good Cause! Bring old clothes and appliances!” read a brightly colored sign on the bins, painted in the familiar light-blue color synonymous with recycling. Another sign warned: “No trash or food items in this bin!”

When he came to UCLA, Andrew Mitsuhashi, a third-year psychology major, brought his belongings in two cars from his home in West Covina. “This time I’m thinking of taking a van, and I don’t think my stuff is still going to fit,” he said, explaining why: “I bought a futon – that alone takes up a lot of space – and I have a lot of clothes I’m not going to wear and am considering donating.”

Aileen Moon, a third-year economics major, said she had bought a lot of clothes over the past year that she hadn’t even touched. “Every week, I bought more clothes,” she said, laughing, adding: “I’ve already taken two trips to Torrance and am thinking of a third.”

By June 11, ORL had emptied eight filled bins and was preparing to clear out many more in the days ahead as students began leaving the campus in large numbers, wheeling suitcases to their cars or carting their belongings in laundry baskets.

The Clothes-Out Drive has been an end-of-the-school-year tradition at UCLA since at least 1998. “We’d love to partner with the UCLA Thrift Shop, but it’s pretty small and we’d probably overwhelm them,” Kadota said, adding: “Other schools have organized flea markets and large garage sales, and we’ve been thinking about that.”