At the University of Sussex in the UK, students have established a ‘freecycling’ shop. Run by volunteers, this is a place where students can donate any unwanted items, and in turn find things they need – such as clothes, books and cooking equipment. So unwanted items get reused instead of going to a landfill site, energy used to make and transport new products is reduced, and students save money: wins all round.
Similarly, at the University of Victoria in Canada, students run a scheme to fix up old bikes and lend them out free of charge, along with some training in safe commuter cycling.
At the University of Tokyo, Japan, the same is done with second-hand laptops.