For over a decade, April has started an annual cycle of circularity at WashU: students living on and off campus purge thousands of items – clothing, shoes, books, furniture, shower caddies, trash bins, and more – which are collected for redistribution and reuse through the Share Our Stuff program.
To find the highest and best use for each category of materials, an extensive and complex system of sorting takes place, depending on the quality, condition and type of item. The result is 35,500 pounds of materials finding new homes and curbing the purchase of new materials in our community. As a result, students, staff and community members save thousands of dollars and have critical needs met while many truckloads of items are delayed in their trip to the landfill.
Below is a photo essay demonstrating how materials are managed and how we match materials with needs:
In preparation for new materials to arrive, the Circularity Center warehouse is liquidated through a series of sales and large donation events. Over 8,000lbs of materials were donated to local organizations as part of this process. Beneficiaries included: St. Vincent DePaul, All Hands on Deck, Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition, International Institute, Wellston Loop Community Development Corporation, ARJ Community Outreach, Camp Wyman, Covenant House, Your Other Mother, and St. Louis Public Schools. Organizations were invited to “shop” for the things they could use and received all materials at no cost. April 2024
Materials are collected through joint efforts by Mail Services, Sharing With a Purpose (SWAP), ResLife Housekeeping, Quadrangle, and others through collection sites at each residential hall, as well as off campus collections that run April through June.
Students drop in at “Sort and Score” events during finals to help sort the materials collected on the S40 residential campus. They can keep 10lbs of materials for every hour they assist. It’s fun, festive, and relaxing! April/May 2024
Students, staff and contract workers flood the Mudd Multipurpose room seeking fun finds to purchase at a fraction of retail cost. Clothing and household goods are particularly popular. May 2024
During the sorting process, specific types of materials were separated out for specific uses or organizations. For example, towels and blankets that weren’t suitable for resale or donation were taken to Stray Rescue by WUPD volunteers. May 2024
Non-profit organizations were invited to the S40 collection site to “shop” for what they can use. Through this process, nearly 14,000lbs of materials were donated to serve local needs through direct-service organizations. May 2024
The Circularity Center, a relatively new asset on WashU’s north campus, enables the storage of select materials reserved from move-out collections and salvaged university surplus materials. Some materials were transported from the South 40 to the North Campus Circularity Center. Other materials, primarily sourced from off-campus housing and university surplus, were collected directly at the Circularity Center and staged for students moving into summer housing. WashU employees and contract workers with college students were also able to shop the summer sales. June 2024
More university surplus materials were gathered at the Circularity Center in late summer to restock for students’ return in the Fall. August 2024
New students, including undergrads, graduate students, post-docs, and international students discover the Circularity Center as a source for furnishing their new homes. The sale is staffed by SPARK volunteers, students who return early for a 9-day Office of Sustainability leadership and sustainability ambassador program during Fall Welcome. August 2024
The Circularity Center will open for regular academic hours starting September 27, with limited open hours 1 to 2 days a week. Materials will fluctuate as items go in and come out. Come April, we will purge the warehouse again through sales and nonprofit partners, and the cycle will repeat! For more information on upcoming open warehouse dates, visit our webpage. You can also receive alerts when special sales are announced and materials arrive by signing up here!