"It's an extraordinary amount of waste for an institution that serves a transient population, and this summer, for the first time, a group of student interns in the facilities department set about collating the abandoned material, sifting through the dross (a hoodie underneath a carton of melted ice cream, say) and the hidden treasure (black Louboutins, barely worn), with the idea that students, and incoming freshmen especially,"
"The shop opened on a Friday, the day campus opened for the fall semester, and word of mouth spread rapidly, such that a line began forming around the block at 6 A.M. on Saturday. Students were required to scan their I.D.s to gain entry; helicopter parents were told to wait outside, near their double-parked S.U.V.s. By Monday, some eighteen hundred students had dropped by, and the goods had largely been picked clean-Tetris'd into Ubers, hauled down subway stairs, or just stashed in reusable bags."
Each May custodial crew clears twenty-three dorms before the summer session, discarding vast quantities of household items. This summer student interns sorted the abandoned goods to create a Swap Shop offering free gently used living essentials from a vacant Second Avenue grocery storefront. The shop opened on the Friday campus reopened for fall, and a line formed by 6 A.M. the next day. Students scanned I.D.s to enter while parents waited outside. By Monday about eighteen hundred students visited and most items were taken, moved in Ubers, carried down subway stairs, or packed into reusable bags. Inventory included furniture, appliances, clothing, and novelty items; microwaves and mini refrigerators remained.
Read at The New Yorker
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