When a new academic year kicks off, college campuses are bustling with students getting into their new digs. Unfortunately, the surrounding areas are also overflowing with improperly disposed of waste from all of the furniture, clothing, and trash emerging from the move during move-in and move-out periods.
While many colleges are in move-out season again, this issue was illustrated well back in August move-in season, when a Redditor shared a frustrating image of the fallout to the r/AntiConsumption community.
The photo shows trash overwhelming dumpsters and messy stacks of boxes that weren't broken down properly. The carnage had taken over much of a sidewalk and street.
"Outside just a single dorm, and this is just the first day of a multiple day move in," the Redditor noted, shedding light on the disregard some students show for communal spaces.
It was unclear if the accumulation of cardboard was due to a lack of awareness about recycling or simple laziness. The original poster noted in a follow-up that some of the dumpsters were for recycling but wrote "no flattening, little sorting, and too much purchased" to sum up their observations.
"Wtf, people have no decency, takes 2 seconds to fold an empty box," a user remarked.
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The upshot of that not happening is someone else having to go through the painstaking work of breaking down all the boxes. Alternatively, they just forgo the whole thing and send everything to the landfill inefficiently.
Paper recycling is effective, and neglecting it because of laziness or ignorance can cost billions of dollars annually in lost economic value. In the meantime, the scene inconveniences anyone navigating the sidewalk or street and is an eyesore.
The move-in clutter is just the beginning for universities. As the academic year wraps up, campuses face an even greater challenge: managing the disposal of usable items.
"I used to work at a university and can assure you, move out day looks the same but with the broken or damaged and useless stuff that once lived in these boxes piled in the same places," a Redditor shared.
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The overall picture is discouraging, but there were glimmers of hope. Posters discussed dumpster diving to save still-good items, and student groups made coordinated efforts to do the same.
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