EcoDorm cleans, furnishes sustainably
The climate justice-oriented organization revamps used dorm items to foster equity.
By JULIA HO
EcoDorm, founded by student JJ Flores, wants to bridge an affordability gap when it comes to college dorm furnishment.
From 2019 to 2023, the average amount each household spent on back-to-college dorm shopping increased by 40%, to about $1,367 per person, according to an annual survey by the National Retail Federation and market researcher Prosper Insights & Analytics. Unfortunately, this is not always an affordable option for many families.
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Meanwhile, the average college student produces about 640 pounds of waste every year, as found by the Columbia University Greens, with significantly more waste during move-out season, resulting in mountains of still-functional debris such as rugs, fans and mattresses.
In Fall 2021, Flores, a junior majoring in international relations, founded EcoDorm, an organization dedicated to reducing the waste generated during move-out and aiding those who can’t afford dorm supplies. EcoDorm began operations in July 2023, starting in South Central.
EcoDorm’s fight for sustainability and affordability within the college sphere involves a two-pronged approach: zero-waste move-outs and community cleanups.
“Housing departments are paid, and universities are already paying for hauling all of the things that are put into dumpsters, and it’s coming at a huge cost to universities,” Flores said. “[Students are] paying for that cost in our tuition.”
During the move-out period, EcoDorm services housing departments by renting out donation bins and doing daily pickups. Over the summer, EcoDorm cleans and repairs any usable items with the help of community members and students, and then, during move-in season, EcoDorm gives about 20% of the refurbished items to community organizations in South Central that request them.
“After that, the goal is to host on-campus pop-up shops where students can either buy online or pick up in-store, or even before they move in, they can see the website and all the items that are on there [and] reserve it, or they can just show up after they move in and grab the items that they want,” Flores said.
With the profits from the pop-up shops, EcoDorm funds the only community cleanup in South Central, partnering with organizations such as the USC Student Sustainability Committee, the Environmental Student Assembly and, most recently, Alpha Phi Omega, a service organization. On Feb. 17, EcoDorm and APO were able to pick up 52.4 pounds of trash and recyclables around the Hoover Recreation Center in one hour.
Josh Placido, a freshman majoring in computational neuroscience and a new member of APO, said working with EcoDorm opened his eyes to the ability to make change in local communities.
“It can be quite a challenge to open or look more broadly and see the communities that are being impacted and the communities we’ve kind of forced ourselves in, especially since USC is more gentrified compared to the communities we’re serving through EcoDorm,” Placido said.
EcoDorm rents out donation bins and does daily pickups during the move-out season. The refurbished dorm essentials are resold at a cheaper price. (JJ Flores)
Even though EcoDorm is not a USC-affiliated organization, its recent cleanups have been with USC organizations, and Flores is looking to expand within Southern California and USC.
“The USC campus and students can feel very disconnected from reality, from its surrounding community. It can feel like a bubble sometimes,” Flores said. “It’s literally called University Park because [Google Maps shows] it’s the most green space in all of South [Central].”
Though USC has implemented sustainability initiatives involving less energy usage and emissions and water conservation, Flores believes that the University is falling behind, especially since many of its Assignment: Earth goals target zero waste.
President Carol Folt’s 2028 sustainability plan includes a zero-waste initiative and aims to divert 90% of waste from landfills to maximize value and best manage resources.
“[Reducing move-out waste] also solves circularity, so the University has a lot of reasons why they would want to partner with EcoDorm,” Flores said. “Students can email their housing departments saying that they really want zero-waste move-out programs, and maybe they can even tell them about EcoDorm.”
Although housing at USC is guaranteed to freshmen and sophomores, for upperclassmen, finding affordable housing in addition to reasonably priced dorm essentials can be difficult. Jantzen Ebreo, a sophomore majoring in health promotion and disease prevention studies who is also a new member of APO, said EcoDorm can provide some relief to those searching for furniture.
“I think that EcoDorm is doing a really good job at introducing a more eco-friendly way to refurbish these furnitures that college students are not using anymore and reselling it for much cheaper prices, especially targeted toward college students that need furniture, for example, moving in,” Ebreo said.
Along the same vein, it’s even more of a challenge for low-income individuals to shell out hundreds of dollars for new dorm essentials every year. Placido, who is a first-generation low-income student, commented on the equity that EcoDorm promotes between students of various socioeconomic backgrounds.
“I really empathize with the people who come from these underrepresented, less-privileged backgrounds and worrying about housing situations and affordability of that [rather than] actually receiving a quality education,” Placido said. “So I think EcoDorm’s initiative really bridges that gap.”
EcoDorm’s community cleanups, which are open to everyone, take place every Saturday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., and groups can sign up on EcoDorm’s website.
