Annual giant clear-out benefits charities and new students in Lancaster

A highly successful recycling initiative which benefits both new Lancaster University students and a range of charities and community groups is well under way.
Darren Axe, the university’s Development Manager (Environmental Sustainability).Darren Axe, the university’s Development Manager (Environmental Sustainability).
Darren Axe, the university’s Development Manager (Environmental Sustainability).

Against all the odds this year, the #DontDitchIt project is up and running for the 11th year in a row.

The project is run by Green Lancaster, a joint initiative between Lancaster University and Lancaster University Students’ Union, to promote good sustainability practices across campus.

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Every year #DontDitchIt provides donation points across campus for students to donate unwanted household items when they move out at the end of the academic year.

The project team then sort through all the items and redistribute to local, national and international charities and community groups.

These include large partners such as SCOPE and the British Heart Foundation to smaller Lancaster-based community groups such as Escape2Make, Skerton Food Club and Precious Plastic Lancaster.

Other items are retained to be re-used on campus by new students. These are distributed via the ‘Household Items for Everyone’ stall around the start of the new year.

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In May, four shipping containers were placed around campus, providing a convenient donation point for students moving out of each of the nine colleges.

The containers were setup with special Covid-safe measures for social distancing and to eliminate touch points or the handling of existing donations.

To help with the sorting process, the team converted a dining hall on campus into a temporary sorting centre.

From July, the Green Lancaster team started the huge task of sorting all the donations, with a strict 72-hour quarantine in place before goods were passed on to local charities.

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Within a few days, the room was stacked to the roof with pots and pans, clothing and kettles to name but a few items.

And, to date this year, more than eight tonnes of donations have been collected by charities and community groups.

As many students were unable to clear out their rooms this year, the team worked with Facilities, Cleaning Services and Room Checkers to remove additional household items from on-campus accommodation to save them from disposal.

Last year #DontDitchIt worked with 61 charities and community groups to redistribute an amazing 42.5 tonnes of items.

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The project will continue until early October, when Green Lancaster hope to run the 'Household Items for Everyone' stall in Alexandra Square for new students to buy low cost, good condition, second hand household items, stationery and books.

Darren Axe, the university’s Development Manager (Environmental Sustainability), said: “It's great that we have been able to get #DontDitchIt up and running despite the various challenges of the last few months.”

“The need for a circular economy and ensuring household commodities remain in an efficient cycle of use is greater than ever given the global challenges of the climate emergency, ecological emergency and natural resource extraction.”

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