As a result of UW Recycling’s two annual waste diversion events — SCRAM (Students Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout) and Husky Neighborhood Cleanup (HNC) — the University of Washington donated a combined total of 28.4 tons of reusable items to local charities and non-profit organizations.
In collaboration with UW Housing & Food Services (HFS), a total of 15 SCRAM donation stations are set up at 13 residence halls during finals week each year. Bedding, clothing, emergency red backpacks, non-perishable food, small appliances, school supplies, toiletries and other items are collected and sorted throughout the week, and then redirected to local organizations. This year the SCRAM stations brought in 27.8 tons of material.
“Only 234 pounds of all the material UW Recycling collected from the SCRAM sites ended up going to the landfill,” said UW Recycling’s Program Coordinator, Erica Bartlett.
UW Recycling has established partnerships with groups including U-District Food Bank, Northwest Center, Real Change, UW Surplus and UW Food Pantry. “The emergency backpacks went to great use," said Real Change Vendor Program Specialist Brandi Tibbs. “We counted 903 of them and had enough to help out eight other agencies.”
Since the area north of 45th Street is technically located off-campus, UW Recycling teams up with groups representing both the University and the city of Seattle during Husky Neighborhood Cleanup. The event serves the north campus neighborhood during Greek Row’s move out. “Preventing illegal dumping and fines associated with leaving bulky items on a property’s curb is UW Recycling’s way of being a good neighbor,” said Bartlett.
“I’m very happy to report that Goodwill received over 1,200 pounds of donations and Waste Management removed over 7.5 tons of trash”, said UW Recycling Program Coordinator, Adam Fehn. “Our students really did their part to make sure that the neighborhood stayed clean during this year’s move out,” said Fehn.
