The Donation Drive is a flagship circular economy project to reduce the environmental impact of the move-out period, by making easier for students to donate their unwanted items before leaving campus.
By keeping things in use, sharing, upcycling, swapping and refurbishing we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the everyday things that we use as well as helping others. It’s particularly important for you to donate things at the end of the academic year, because with so many students moving out at once, there is a significant increase in waste. This sudden increase can overwhelm the system and even items that would normally be recycled end up in landfill, which is a disaster for the environment.
The Donation Drive is an award-winning project run by the Energy & Sustainability Team with support from Warwick Accommodation, Waste & Recycling, Post & Portering, and Warwick Conferences.
What can I donate?
Got stuff you don’t need? Don’t dump it—donate it! When deciding what to donate, ask yourself: Would I give this to a friend? If the answer is no, it’s probably not suitable for donation. All items must be clean, in good condition, and fully working to ensure they can be reused safely and effectively.
A whopping 75% of materials from electricals can be recycled and reused, so recycling them properly is really important. It’s even better if we can keep electricals in use for as long as possible, so please donate any unwanted small appliances that you have. Please note we're only able to accent working electricals.
Please donate your unwanted kitchenware at your nearest Donation Station to support our Kitchen Kit Market at the start of the academic year! All proceeds are donated to charity.
Yes, please
✔ Frying pans, woks, saucepans
✔ Mugs & cups
✔ Cutlery - blunt knives, forks, spoons
✔ Glasses & tumblers
✔ Baking trays
✔ Chopping boards
✔ Food Storage containers
✔ Sieves & colanders
✔ Plates, bowls & dishes
✔ Wooden spoons & spatulas
✔ Tongs
✔ Peelers
✔ Measuring jugs
✔ Graters
No, thank you
✘ Sharp knives
We encourage you to take food home with you if you can, otherwise please check the list below to see what you can donate at your nearest Donation Station to support local charities.
In the UK, households waste 6.6. million tonnes of food a year and 4.7 million tonnes of that is edible food. That’s enough to fill 8 Wembley stadiums. If everyone in the UK stopped wasting food at home for just one day, it would have the same positive impact on greenhouse gases as planting half a million trees. By donating food instead of binning it, you are ensuring that the resources used in its production aren’t being wasted and preventing it from releasing methane (a very powerful greenhouse gas) in landfill. (Source: BBC & WRAP)
Yes, please
✔ Breakfast cereals
✔ Soup
✔ Pasta
✔ Rice
✔ Pasta sauce
✔ Tinned beans
✔ Tinned meat
✔ Tinned vegetables
✔ Tinned fruit
✔ Tea or coffee
✔ Sugar
✔ Biscuits
✔ Snacks
✔ Fruit juice
✔ Squash
✔ Jam
Just remember, we can only accept
unopened
packets of food.
No, thank you
✘ Opened packets of non-perishable food
✘ Cooking oil
✘ Fresh food
✘ Frozen food
Any books in good condition can be donated at the Donation Stations. Books will be reused on campus.
It’s really important to keep our clothes out of waste streams for as long as possible.
Did you know that it takes around 2,000 gallons of water to produce one pair of jeans? That’s more than enough for one person to drink eight cups of water per day for 10 years. (Source: World Economic Forum)
Where can I donate?
Look for the big yellow bunkers and drop off your contributions anytime! Every donation helps support those in need in our community.
Donation Station outside Cryfield Residence Hub.
The Project's Impact
This year, to increase participation and visibility, we trialled purpose-built outdoor donation stations, making it easier for students to see where and how to donate.
We also formalised relationships with partner charities to ensure that donated goods are distributed efficiently and responsibly through official University charity partnerships.
The Donation Drive project avoided approximately 31,654 kgCO2e by keeping items in use. This figure has been calculated using lifecycle assessment data which looks at the impact of the raw materials required to produce the items, processing, packaging, and distribution of goods. This is equivalent to driving 4.7 times around the world or powering 30.6 million phone charges.
One of the aims of the Donation Drive project was to keep as many of the donated items as possible in use on campus, and the Kitchen Kit Market helped achieve this by redistributing over 3.1 tonnes of items, including kitchenware, homeware, sports equipment, bedding and books.
Social Impact
The Donation Drive engaged 44 staff, student and community volunteers.
The Donation Drive supported the local community and on-campus initiatives including Carriers of Hope, Emmaus, Workwear Wardrobe, and the Exchange Students' Library of Things.
The Kitchen Kit Market raised £5,100 for charity.
The Kitchen Kit Market saw 1254 students purchase pre-loved kitchen items on a "pay as you feel" basis, picking up bargains to fill their new homes. Students had the opportunity to buy a full set of kitchenware for as little as £1.
We ran the Donation Drive for the first time in 2024 - and it was a huge success! From rescued kitchen kits to tonnes of saved waste, our campus community really showed up. Check out the breakdown of what we achieved together below.
The Donation Drive project diverted 8,160.31 kgs from general waste. This is equivalent to the weight of 80,000 decks of cards or 5,000,000 paper clips.
The Donation Drive project avoided approximately 15,524 kgCO2eby keeping items in use. This figure has been calculated using lifecycle assessment data which looks at the impact of the raw materials required to produce the items, processing, packaging, and distribution of goods. This is equivalent to driving 2.3 laps around the world or 15 million phone charges.
One of the aims of the Donation Drive project was to keep as many of the donated items as possible in use on campus,, and the Kitchen Kit Market helped achieve this by redistributing over 2 tonnes of kitchenware.
Each student avoided approximately 14.7 kg of carbon by choosing to buy preloved items rather than new. This is equivalent to driving a car for 86 kilometres.
Social and Economic Impact
The Donation Drive engaged 61 staff, student and community volunteers.
The Donation Drive supported the local community and on-campus initiatives including:
The Kitchen Kit Market saw over 1000 students purchase pre-loved kitchen items on a "pay as you feel" basis, picking up bargains to fill their new homes. Students had the opportunity to buy a full set of kitchenware for as little as £1.
Help us reduce waste
Waste has a very negative impact on the environment, whether it’s food in landfill causing methane (a very potent greenhouse gas), plastics and chemicals polluting the environment, precious resources being lost or even the carbon emissions from recycling. By keeping things in use, sharing, upcycling, swapping and refurbishing we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the everyday things that we use as well as helping others. It’s particularly important for you to donate things at the end of the academic year, because with so many students moving out at once, there is a significant increase in waste. This sudden increase can overwhelm the system and even items that would normally be recycled end up in landfill, which is a disaster for the environment.
Figure out what you have in your cupboard and fridge. Grab a notepad and pen, and write down your inventory. Create meal plans trying to use up all items you have.
Don't have any tasty recipe ideas? Check out these search engines that generate recipes based on the items you have:
Ask local supermarkets and shops whether they have any cardboard boxes you can have to pack your possessions in to make transportation easier.
Leaving the University for summer break? Instead of throwing out perfectly good stuff, students can store their belongings off-campus with ease. David Gilkes Removals offers a simple, affordable storage service designed just for students—no car or heavy lifting required. They’ll pick it up, keep it safe over the summer, and deliver it back when term starts.
