During Move Out, BU diverts tons of items from the trash, from clothing to furnishings to kitchen items. Since the program began in May 2009, we have saved several hundred tons of material from landfills and incinerators. Let’s continue this legacy by helping BU Sustainability, Residence Life, BU Student Wellbeing, and Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries collect used items for reuse. If you're ready to say goodbye to some of your belongings, consider what might be used again and make a plan to bring it to one of our convenient donation locations. Help us donate more than last year (225,000lbs)!

Winter 2025 Dates:

• December 5th through to the start of Intersession

What do I do with my stuff?

There are multiple donation bins at Goodwill, Not Landfill. These bins help separate items out and make it easier to donate and recycle during move-out.

• Goodwill: Clothing, shoes, accessories, small appliances, small furnishings, housewares, kitchenware, décor, etc.
• BU Food Pantry Drop-Off: Non-perishable, unopened food items and toiletries will be collected at all major residence halls. All of these items will be donated to the BU Food Pantry.
• Textile Recycling: Ripped, dirty, stained clothing, all bedding & blankets, pillows. There will be a separate bin at every donation location for you to recycle dirty, stained, and ripped items.
• Mattress Pads & Toppers

For more information on what can be donated and how to sort your items, please refer to this document.

Donation Locations

Look for the donation bins located at these buildings. All locations listed will have a Goodwill, Textile Recyling, BU Food Pantry, and Mattress Pads & Toppers donation bins unless noted.

• West Campus (Rich, Sleeper, Claflin): Drop-off stations are located inside each building on the main floor just beyond the security desk.
• Warren Towers: Drop-off station located on the 4th floor in the lounge near the elevator & vending machines.
• 610 Beacon Street: Drop-off station located on the main floor back hallway after the elevators.
• Kilachand Hall: Drop-off station located inside the main entrance to the left.
• The Towers: Drop-off station located on the main floor in the recycling alcove.
• 10 Buick Street: Drop-off station located on the lower-level floor across from the Residence Life office.
• 33 Harry Agganis Way: Drop-off station located on the first floor in the main lobby (back right corner).
• Fenway Campus: Located in the campus center (150 Riverway) on the first floor in the main lobby, and 210 Riverway next to the entrance elevator.
• South Campus: Located in the basement of 516-522 Park in the mail room area.
• 890 Commonwealth Ave (CELOP): Located on the 2nd floor of the building

Bike Storage

For those keeping their bike on campus over winter intersession, it is best to use one of the bike lockers across campus found here.

Item Exchange Policy

There are a lot of logistics and moving parts that allow this program to be a success. To mitigate and streamline operations, we have an exchange policy for the Goodwill, Not Landfill program.

Give One-Take One Policy: 

During the move-out period it is possible you will see an item in the donation bins that interests you or you may want to take home. Because move-out is a fast-paced and often chaotic period, we have some ground rules for taking items from the GWNL donation bins.

Throughout GWNL, only students or family members accompanied by students, may take an item from the bins after donating one. To help ensure an operationally smooth GWNL, we ask that you follow these rules as part of the give one-take one policy.

Rules: 

• Students CANNOT dig through, dump out or otherwise make a mess of donation areas while exchanging items from donation areas.
• Students CANNOT loiter at donation areas waiting for specific items to be donated.
• Family members must be accompanied by a BU student, at all times, to exchange items at the donation areas.
• Faculty and Staff CANNOT take any items from the donation areas.