With college move-out season quickly approaching, the Daily Trojan Spring 2025 Editorial Board felt it was only fitting to discuss how USC students can make the move-out process as sustainable as possible by reducing waste, limiting reliance on single-use products and encouraging environmentally friendly habits.

Every year at USC, almost 7,000 students move out of University housing, leaving a trail of their former belongings behind them. The large donation bins located at each residential college are filled to the brim with students’ discarded items from mirrors to lamps to clothes. 

While these bins are aimed at diverting students’ items away from landfills, that doesn’t mean that students carelessly discarding their possessions into these donation bins is a perfect move-out solution. 

As Elizabeth Cline of The Atlantic highlights, “Charities such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army sell only what they can in their retail shops — typically less than 20 percent of what they receive.” 

This throwaway mindset cycle of over-consuming and then relinquishing one’s items without second thought is far from the epitome of a perfect move-out plan, not to mention that some students don’t even opt to use the donation options available, creating more unnecessary waste. 

The problem of managing waste from move-outs isn’t unique to USC. Around move-out time, streets around UCLA have also been littered with students’ debris, and outside of Los Angeles, colleges like Boston University and Princeton University are also grappling with finding the best approach for handling college move-outs sustainably. 

In continuing to progress toward a more environmentally conscious future along with these other universities, USC must do its part to curb the harmful effects of overconsumption and waste generation. During our move-outs this year and onward, we should make sure to engage in more sustainable behaviors and encourage the University to continue expanding its sustainability efforts for the future. 

Current Sustainability Measures

The University already has some sustainability measures currently in place during move-out. These are in large part due to recent efforts by the Office of Sustainability, which has committed to making USC carbon neutral by the end of 2025. 

Strides toward achieving this goal during the move-out process have come in large-scale recycling projects that account for items ranging from mattress toppers to furniture. Instead of throwing out undamaged objects, students can donate them to be “given back to the community,” as stated on USC Housing’s website. 

The Department of Public Safety and USC Housing also partner with Goodwill and the American Textile Recycling Service at the end of each spring semester to repurpose used clothing, shoes and bedding. Unwanted textbooks can meanwhile be donated back to the USC Library for future use and recognized student organization EcoDorm organizes move-out item collection for donation and resale. 

The Housing site additionally states that by working with IRN — The Reuse Network, it has prevented over 134,000 pounds of furniture from being sent to landfills. IRN works with 137 colleges across the country and has diverted 60.5 million pounds of surplus residential housing items from landfills since 2002. 

USC Housing recommends that students purchase reusable goods and recycled housing materials at the beginning of each school year instead of buying brand-new and contributing to the almost 190 tons of waste USC students generate during move-out annually. It also advises against bringing unnecessary items such as extra furniture or decorations that usually end up being thrown out rather than kept. 

Apart from just offering sustainable move-out options to students, USC Housing also practices environmentally friendly methods itself. The products used to clean out dorms and apartments between occupants are Green Seal or EPA certified, meaning they meet a higher standard of environmental protection.

Taking Action

Despite the prevalence of move-out waste, there are numerous ways to ensure more sustainable practices during move-out.

For example, clothes and furniture can be donated directly to thrift stores. Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army have multiple locations across L.A., with Goodwill being located within the shared Lyft zone, making it easy to access for USC students. 

Another way students can reduce their waste is by opting for reusable and efficient packing materials. For example, instead of packing belongings in cardboard boxes, students can opt to use reusable packing bags, which will last them for years to come. These bags often store more material than cardboard boxes and are easily accessible since they have zippers instead of tape. Additionally, students can opt to wrap fragile materials in clothes and towels instead of bubble wrap and tape, which can prevent plastic waste. 

While students need to take actionable steps to reduce waste, USC can also assist them in the process. In summer 2024, UCLA created Sustainable Move Out, where it collaborated with second-hand clothing stores and the city of L.A., including L.A. Sanitation and City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, to reduce waste. 

The collaboration between the city and UCLA made donating more accessible for students and allowed them to serve the community at the same time. USC could adopt a similar initiative, promoting waste reduction in the move-out process. 

Looking Ahead

In addition to the examples above of how students can stay environmentally friendly while moving out, it will be important to retain this commitment to sustainability when moving in at the start of the next school year. Whether it be through prioritizing local thrift stores for your housing needs or reusing the boxes you bring, there are a variety of ways we as students can help reduce waste as we enter the next academic year. Going forward we need to be conscious about how our actions, both big and small, affect the environment.

And while there are plenty of ways for students to help, it is also critical that USC encourages and empowers sustainable practices. With the current political climate seeming to discourage action against growing threats of climate change and waste excess, it is all the more important that institutions such as USC contribute to promoting sustainable living. 

This can look like projects described above from UCLA’s Sustainable Move Out or food waste reduction programs that have begun at universities across New England. Action can also be taken through initiatives that spread awareness about nearby thrift and secondhand stores. Such additions are options for how universities can do their part while empowering students to continue and expand their sustainable practices. 

Committing to reducing waste and promoting sustainability will require effort on part of both students and the University, and we must stay true to taking environmentally conscious actions regardless of political attitudes toward environmental issues. 

While we recognize that USC has made efforts in creating a sustainable move-out process, the Daily Trojan Spring 2025 Editorial Board believes that there are more steps the student body can make. We hope that after reading the accessible and actionable items mentioned above, students will feel compelled to reevaluate their move-out process while also proving to the University how much they value environmentalism.