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Spring cleaning with a meaning

By Jessie Bazan, Comm '14   

SEAC members bringing storage bins to David A. Straz, Jr. Tower Hall. From left: Isaac Pierre, Jon Hall and David Mullins.

Amid all the craziness of move-out week, Marquette's Students for an Environmentally Active Campus had one message for students clearing out residence hall rooms: Don't Dump, Donate!

To decrease waste and promote recycling, SEAC put together the first annual move-out week program, designed to give students opportunities to donate unwanted clothing, school supplies, furniture and food.

"On move-out week, when people have all this stuff, instead of just tossing it in the dumpster, they can (utilize) readily accessible recycling units," explains sophomore Isaac Pierre, a member of SEAC who helped locate donation boxes in the nine residence halls. During the week, volunteers from the Residence Hall Association, Greek life, Midnight Run, Campus Kitchens and other student organizations assisted in gathering donations. All food went to Campus Kitchens and the Hunger Task Force. Non-edibles went to Midnight Run sites.

Sophomore Sean Hegarty reports that 25 futons/couches were collected along with four tables and three chairs.

"All the residence halls had mountains of donations by Saturday," Hegarty says.

Overall, members of SEAC were extremely happy with how the first Don't Dump, Donate! turned out.

"It was overwhelming how much college-aged students donated, but also the quality of what was being donated," says sophomore David Mullins, president of SEAC.