Give It Don’t Bin It is an annual campaign to reduce student waste during the moving out season which occurs at the end of each academic year. Clothes and other re-usable items are given to the British Heart Foundation, while food items are donated to Manchester Central Food Bank.  

Last year Manchester students donated over 100 tonnes worth of items to the British Heart Foundation and generated over £204,000. 

Building on the success of last year’s campaign, this year saw dedicated University of Manchester staff volunteers alongside local council staff run 8 donation pop up points all around Fallowfield, Withington and Ardwick. Donation points are strategically placed in areas densely populated by student homes.  

Debbie Houghton, Student Neighbourhood Coordinator at Manchester Student Homes, a partnership between The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, said; “A huge thank you to staff from across the University who volunteered at this year’s Give It Don’t Bin It off campus donation points!

“Having additional staffing made a huge difference to the event organisers at Manchester City Council and means that we can look at extending the donation points for next year, allowing even more to be diverted from landfill and donated to charity.”

Another project to tackle end of year waste took place in our halls of residences. The University’s Second Life Project saw staff volunteers collecting, cleaning and re-purposing kitchenware items left behind in halls.  

Over 2,500 items have been saved from going to waste. Many of these will be re-distributed to new students during Welcome Week at the Spend Smart Fair.  

Both these initiatives are just two of the many ways colleagues across the University are helping to support our students while building a more sustainable campus. 

• Watch this video to find out more about the Second Life Project.
• Find out more about Give It, Don’t Bin It.