Salvage don’t scrap

It is nearly that time of the year: Dumpster-diving season. However, to the dismay of many Dumpster divers, information to minimize such "trash treasures" will be divulged in the following.

"Dumpster divers" often sprout from such families in which recycling and composting are a must.  They are scavengers of garage sales, roadside ditches, secondhand stores, dumps, Dumpsters and in general, rejected or abandoned items. A Dumpster diver is a person who literally hops into a Dumpster and digs around like a kid in a sandbox to find buried treasure. Think of the phrase, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

We have become a nation of heavy consumerism. We are often wasteful and lazy in tossing out what is "broken" to simply replace it instead of easily remedying what we already own. A great piece of advice from a fortune cookie reads, "Don't scrap everything! See what you can salvage."

Whichever background you come from, remember your – our – ecological responsibility to minimize what we put into landfills and maximize recycling. Whether through taking clothing and other items to secondhand stores, recycling items such as cardboard, glass and plastic, or salvaging items for reuse instead of simply scrapping them, we can do our part.  

A 2009 article from Time magazine titled "Dumpster Diving: Colleges Get Smart on Salvage" highlights the issue of the end-of-the-year cleaning, which results in students throwing out assorted items to lessen their moving load. Usable items such as carpets, futons and frames, lamps, pillows, clothes, books and furniture are abandoned in curbside Dumpsters in a careless manner, often without a thought toward donation.    

Many colleges such as Princeton, New York University, Harvard and Cornell have instituted programs in which a collection project collects food, clothing, furniture and other items to donate to charities.  

The University of Northern Iowa has answered this issue with its own collection program called Panther Pickup, much like Texas Christian University's "Trash to Treasure" collection program.

Panther Pickup will be held from late April to early May this year. Students can donate items to various organizations such as St. Vincent de Paul, Goodwill, the Salvation Army and many others. Both on- and off-campus students can donate items instead of simply adding to the plethora of garbage dumps.  

On-campus recycling will be May 4 and May 5 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and May 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. St. Vincent de Paul, Goodwill and the Salvation Army will have trucks on campus with agency staff to accept items. On-campus metal recycling will be April 30 through May 6.

Off-campus students can contact St. Vincent de Paul to schedule a pickup time for furniture, computers, printers and other large items by calling 232-3366. Pickup is usually done one to two weeks from a phone call.

Last year, Panther Pickup donated 6,700 pounds of clothing, dishes, carpet and furniture along with other items. Visit www.vpaf.uni.edu/energy/energy_sub/pantherpickup.shtml for maps of pickup locations and additional details.

Students should deem recycling and donation a responsibility when cleaning out their dorms and apartments at the end of the academic year to reduce their carbon footprint and continue such practice into their adult lives.

With such services provided, there is no reason usable items should find their way into curbside Dumpsters, ultimately laid to rest in landfills.

Dumpster divers cannot salvage every usable item lazily plunked into trash receptacles. It is not their responsibility to rectify such carelessness. Every student is individually responsible for minimizing his or her carbon output. Any and all persons should first donate or recycle materials before resorting to the Dumpster.

After all, every day is Earth Day. Not just April 22.