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At the end of the semester, students will be moving out of their on- or off campus residences for the summer and disposing of all their used, broken or merely unwanted furnishings.
The UDon't Need It program, run by the university and city of Newark, is one way for students to get rid of their unneeded items which are donated to charities or to community members in need.
The program runs from May 22 through June 5, and allows students to drop off unwanted items at the former Curtis Paper Mill site on Paper Mill Road.
"In the past when students moved out, the streets and sidewalks of Newark were piled with loveseats, sofas and debris," Carol Houck, assistant to the city manager, said. "The streets were not in a very safe situation with all the items laying everywhere."
Houck said in the past, debris would blow everywhere on windy days and vandals would sometimes set fire to the furniture being disposed of outside. The UDon't Need It program helps keep the city clean and safe, she said.
The donations are tax deductible and important because quality items can be reused and are not discarded, Houck said. She also said useable items that are not donated are sold to the public at a surplus sale held on June 6.
"All profits from this sale are budgeted in our Town and Gown account and it goes directly back into next year's operating fees for the UDon't Need It program," Houck said. "The money helps pay for Green Delaware Recycle Trucks and transportation to the landfill."
She said the UDon't Need It program is beneficial because students feel better knowing they have a place to bring their unwanted items, and student stress is also reduced as they are about to graduate or move out.
Junior Bill Yanchulis said he lived in the University Courtyard Apartments in the past and when he moved out, he just left unneeded furnishings by the dumpsters. He said he was unfamiliar with the UDon't Need It program but said he will take it into consideration now that he is aware of it.
"I'm not keeping my bed so I'll probably take that and I was going to just leave my desk in the house, so I might take that, too," Yanchulis said.
Junior Barbara McHale has three roommates who will be graduating and moving out on June 1. McHale said she will remain in the same residence next year with three new roommates.
She said she and her roommates did not know how to get rid of the old, broken and unusable furnishings currently in their house.
"We were worried about how to dispose of it all since I don't want it here and my roommates don't want to take them home," McHale said.
She also was unfamiliar with the UDon't Need It program.
Senior Cathy Gallagher said she is not graduating but she is moving to a different location on campus next year. She, too, was unfamiliar with the program.
"I know that when I moved into my house now, there was a room in the house with broken stuff that was just left behind," Gallagher said. "We never used that room because it was so cluttered so it would've been nice if the stuff was taken and dropped off last year."
Houck said advertisements will help familiarize students with the program. Channel 22, the city-run public information station, posters in local shops and word of mouth are all ways the UDon't Need It program is being advertised.
"We feel that more students have heard about it and that many more will take advantage of this wonderful program," she said.
In 2007 and 2008, 155 tons of household items were collected and went to the landfill, Houck said.
She said she expects the number of participants in the program to remain relatively the same this year because over the past two years the numbers have remained consistent.
"We are so successful because we have so many wonderful volunteers that help run the drop off site," she said. "We are always in need and are welcoming anyone who wants to volunteer."
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