On Saturday, Sept. 13, Wellesley’s Office of Sustainability held its annual start-of-the-year Sustainability Sale. On display were clusters of mini-fridges, miscellaneous kitchenware, a variety of lamps and more. Systematically, students lined up and perused items previously owned by peers who seemingly no longer had a need for them. One by one, the number of goods dwindled, and students returned to their rooms with newfound treasures. Although there looked to be an abundance of items at this sale, the amount of goods seen that Saturday cannot compare to the mountains of clothes, appliances and miscellaneous items that routinely wind up in the Sustainability Bins (and other sustainability sales) at the end of the school year.
It is no news that overconsumption is a vast and widespread issue, especially amongst college students. According to the National Retail Federation, per-person spending for college shopping this year averaged about $1,325.85, totaling $88.8 billion. This spending may be inevitable, though. These numbers might reflect the fact that a majority of that spending is on basic necessities. When looking at the sheer number of unwanted items in sales and bins, though, it leads one to wonder whether those necessities are items that can and should be recycled and reused annually.
What is truly baffling about this consumption is just how identical one student’s possessions are to another’s. The tower of mini-fridges seen at the Sustainability Sale were nearly indistinguishable from one another. Rolling carts were only differentiated by color. Tote bags varied by design but not function. Year after year, the junk accumulated by students seems to grow, despite the fact that there seems to be a surplus each year. The unwanted goods speak to the waste produced, especially considering the idea that much of it seems to be produced by graduating seniors who will no longer need them after graduation.
One may argue that it isn’t waste if these items get recycled through sustainability sales and bins, but are the effects positive enough to create a net-zero balance between our consumption and our reuse? Considering the ubiquity of certain items, in addition to the sheer amount leftover at the end of the year, it appears more likely that the consumption on campus is really overconsumption. Despite having recurring sales and numerous bins, students appear to buy the same things unnecessarily and discard them after a relatively short period of time.
These efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling are earnest and are good steps to promoting responsible consumption. With this in mind, it may be more beneficial to take preventative measures to stop unnecessary waste and overconsumption in the first place. I urge students, especially first years or prospective students, to seriously consider whether what they are buying is really necessary. In particular, that thought process should include considerations about whether or not items will still be of use after four years. I would encourage them to reach out to family or friends (most likely those who recently graduated) who may have items they want and do not need. However, it’s not always easy to determine what is needed if incoming students are unaware of what storage spaces are available in their rooms or what other opportunities are available in terms of buying second-hand items. This can also be exacerbated by the location where each student lives.
The burden of prevention should fall heavily onto Wellesley’s Office of Sustainability, as well as administrators whose job it is to advise incoming students on what to bring and what to buy. Admittedly, a PDF is available online, created by the Office of Residential Life, which describes what furniture is provided. However, a better and more informative practice might be to include photos of examples of desks, dressers, and closets, in order to provide incoming students with a better idea of just how much storage space they have.
In addition, Wellesley College can expand its services to include rental fridges, fans, or other necessities. For instance, Boston University, Tufts University, and Simmons University allow students to rent fridges. Wellesley’s Office of Sustainability could also consider retaining more items that graduating students will no longer want or need. They could lend them or sell them to other students as a way of supplementing their current sustainability sales and bins. With these initiatives, Wellesley has the ability to prevent and reduce the overconsumption we see each year.
Contact the editors responsible for this article: Caitlin Donovan, Avery Finley
