Goodwill, Not Landfill

Goodwill, Not Landfill (GWNL) ensures unwanted student belongings are sent to community members in need. Boston University has long partnered with Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries to repurpose gently used items, rather than sending these materials to landfills or incinerators. The success of this program depends on our GWNL Operations Assistance Team (GOATs). These are paid student employees assisting in operations and logistics from finals until after the all-university commencement. In 2025, our GOATs helped divert over 112,000 pounds of material from the waste stream.

BU Sustainability coordinates this effort with several partners, including Campus Planning & Operations, Student Wellbeing, Residence Life, and our resource management partner Casella, who handles specialty recycling and identifies viable end sites for hard-to-recycle materials like mattress pads and toppers.

Textile Donation Program
In partnership with the Faith & Ecological Justice Program at the School of Theology, and with support from BU Housing and Auxiliary Services, BU Sustainability piloted a textile donation program, which collected and donated over 2,000 pounds of textiles to local homeless shelters and community organizations across Greater Boston.

This program was the brainchild of a Master of Theology and Social Work student, Maria Gorret Nampiima, who identified the significant volume of textiles, including bedding, pillows, and towels discarded during move-out. Recognizing both the waste and the unmet need in the community, she worked with BU Sustainability to organize and launder donated items, redirecting them to organizations supporting families facing housing insecurity.

Recipient organizations include the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, First Community United Methodist Church, Wesley United Methodist Church, Seniors Bay Cove Human Services, Vanderburgh Sober Living, and BU School of Theology students, many of whom require subsidized housing while living in Boston.

Reuse Pilot Program for Graduate Students
In Summer 2025, BU Sustainability debuted a reuse pilot program designed specifically for graduate students. Unlike undergraduate housing, where the gap between move-out and move-in can stretch across much of the summer, graduate student turnover follows a tighter timeline — making it feasible to collect, sort, and store donated items on site.

During move-out, collected household items commonly found in dorms and small apartments were made available free of charge to incoming graduate students, in early August, easing the move-in transition while keeping usable goods out of the waste stream. Based on the success of the inaugural pilot, we look forward to expanding the program in the years ahead.

Shred + Recycle Events

In collaboration with BU Information Security, BU Sustainability hosts semi-annual Shred + Recycle Events. The events are open to all faculty, staff, and students and provide a critical channel for departments to securely and sustainably manage e-waste and sensitive materials. In 2025, 14 tons of material from the Charles River and Medical Campuses were safely diverted from the waste stream.

Embodied Carbon

Boston University is increasingly focused on embodied carbon – the emissions generated through building construction and renovation. At the Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences, the University reduced total embodied carbon by more than 6% – a meaningful first step for a building of its scale. By renovating Warren Towers rather than demolishing it and building new, the University reduced the building’s embodied carbon emissions by 8.4 times while transforming it from BU’s second-largest emitter into a fully electrified, net-zero building.