We’re so inspired by what the Stonehill Honors Environmental Ethics class is up to, we’re working on a Buy Nothing College Resource Kit - Watch our site and social media so you can download a kit for your college! College campuses are ready-made Buy Nothing communities waiting to connect, and we’d like to make that as easy as possible. We’re grateful to Stonehill College for taking the initiative to bring this to life on their campus, and for offering their lessons to the world. To take immediate action, you can find their Buy Nothing video tutorial on Instagram and adapt this to your own campus. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcBgr91FpXt/?hl=en
Kiley was kind enough to join me for a Zoom chat this past Saturday, so I could ask some questions about what the Stonehill Skyhawks are up to. The Buy Nothing college move-out movement they’re starting can be joined by any college or university, and they’re kindly allowing us to share their posts here so that everyone else can learn from them and replicate this idea to build Buy Nothing circular gift economies that keep dorm room goods out of the trash and in use for full lives.
During my chat with Kiley, I learned a few basics about the impact of dorm move-out weeks at Stonehill.
Some of the most common items to end up in the trash are:
- Twin XL Bedding (sheets, mattress covers, duvets and comforters, etc): These seem to come especially from seniors who are moving onto post-college life, where Twin XL mattresses are extremely hard to find.
- Mirrors, especially the full-length style
- Rugs, Rugs, Rugs!
- Clothing
Stonehill will have some textile recycling bins available for students to use to send their clothing and bedding onto another life. But reuse is *always* a better next life for goods than recycling: The more we keep items in use as they are, the more we reap the benefits of the water, power, and human energy put into them, and the more we lessen their carbon, water, power, and plastic footprint.
Follow Buy Nothing Stonehill on Instagram to get all of their updates - whether you’re a Skyhawk or not, their content is very helpful and illuminating, and will help you bring this to life with your own college. https://www.instagram.com/buynothingstonehill/?hl=en
We’re so excited to have college campus communities joining Buy Nothing! Please let us know what resources we can develop to empower you to build sustainable Buy Nothing circular gift economies on your campus.
Yours in Buying Nothing New,
Rebecca Rockefeller, Buy Nothing Project co-founder
Here’s information from the Stonehill Environmental Ethics class, shared with permission:
https://www.instagram.com/buynothingstonehill/
Professor Mooney's Honors Environmental Ethics class is striving to create a lively and engaging Buy Nothing Community at Stonehill College. If you have specific questions about the project, please DM our instagram, or leave a comment on a post. We will get back to you as soon as we can! Thank you for participating and helping us reduce waste on Stonehill's campus!
-- Rebecca Rockefeller