Students moving out: what do we actually do with all our stuff?

This time, I genuinely don’t know where all this stuff came from. It’s the same story year-on-year for Bristol students: we visit pop-up markets, buy and lose a hundred umbrellas (and somehow find them again), and then still can’t help but purchase yet another poster for our bedrooms. When the cruel, unfair reality eventually hits, and we’re forced to condense our lives into bags small enough to carry on some overcrowded train, sobs echo around the city as we reluctantly chuck out that free plant from the Fresher’s Fair. So, to save you the emotional turmoil, I’ve gathered the best ways to not just declutter your wardrobe but also turn it into a potential side hustle.

Resell: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

I have to come out and say it – I’m a Vinted addict. When planning this article, I chose the first point because my Vinted screen time exceeds 95% of all other apps on my phone. And for a good reason.

Did you know you can buy literally anything on Vinted? Therefore, you can sell literally anything on Vinted. Updated fairly recently, the app now allows you to sell homeware, electronics, memorabilia, art supplies, sports kits, and more. Combined with other reselling platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Olio, Depop, and eBay, there will be a market for even the crusted junk lurking in the dingiest corner of your room – and you’ll probably make a profit.

There’s definitely a knack to reselling, but it’s not rocket science. Try this: list some items, tag them under relevant brands, and chuck in some Pinterest buzzwords tied to your item’s niche: grunge, Y2K, cottagecore… You get the idea. Voilà. For that, I’d like 60% commission.

Donate: No one has ever become poor by giving

In Bristol, compliment someone’s outfit and nine times out of ten you’ll hear: “Thanks, it’s from a charity shop.”

Bristol boasts a pretty active charity shop scene. In fact, I would say that we’re a perfect manifestation of what happens when a love for fashion meets a drive for sustainability. And it’s not just about aesthetics. With the cost of living rising (as all students know), charity shopping has become more than just a hunt for a vintage find to show off on a night out.

However, the stock needs to come from somewhere. Fortunately, the Bristol unis make our job a lot easier, propping up designated British Heart Foundation bins around move-out time (keep your eyes peeled). That said, there are plenty of other charity shops that’ll happily accept unwanted clothes, electronics, and crockery when these bins are full. There are also animal shelters and churches that can repurpose or pass on your old bedding. Though quick tip: make sure to check the criteria of what each place will accept before showing up with a bag full of stuff.

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Share: Charity starts at home

I think something very difficult for me to come to terms with since university is that I’m actually not the coolest guy in the world. I’m sorry if that was a jumpscare; it was to me, too. Truly, my friends have some cool things. In fact, if I had to name my top five worst experiences, at least three of them would be the times I watched my friends rummage through their wardrobes and very casually flick past the most gorgeous item of clothing I’ve ever seen, only for them to say they barely wear it.

However, like many others, I’m guilty of declaring something “too good to donate” whilst never actually using it myself. In the first year, I kept a potato masher in my cupboard just in case I wanted to make mashed potatoes. Sorting through my cupboard before moving out, my housemate spotted my still brand-new and sparkly potato masher and remarked how badly she needed one, as she had been using a fork the whole year. The funniest part is, I genuinely would have thrown it away, as I don’t even like mashed potatoes.

Between my friend’s shirt and my housemate’s new potato masher, it’s really worth checking with your social circle to see if anyone wants the mundane stuff that you don’t want to donate or throw away. It’s much more fulfilling to see an item being used or worn by a friend than it is to see it collecting dust waiting until the day you decide to put it out of its misery.

What’s better is that this method isn’t even a secret: the universities have been encouraging this for years. As part of the Students On The Move campaign, Bristol University and UWE have schemes in place to bridge that gap between wanting to donate but not wanting to fully let go of items. For example, Bristol Uni’s ‘Donate a Plate’ scheme that allows first-year students to source their kitchenware from preceding students. UWE’s Sustainability Hub and Bristol Uni’s Swap Shop have a similar goal: to recycle students’ items and pass them on to successive generations. It’s worth checking the SU websites over the next few months as these schemes aren’t only useful for us, but also for incoming freshers.

If all else fails, dispose responsibly

As great as it is to resell or recycle, the truth is that not all items are meant to last forever, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is hurriedly chucking them into a black bag and leaving it on the side of the road or outside your house. I don’t mean to sound like the bin police; I understand that sorting through old clutter is a tedious and seemingly pointless job, but it really isn’t.

I sometimes envision a world where we all leave our rubbish on the side of the road unsorted. I imagine it’d rain, the bags would rip, and the bin crew would never collect them because they were all jumbled. It’d build and build until we all drown in old frying pans and half-burnt candles. Luckily, this apocalypse probably won’t happen, but the missed collections might.

In Bristol, bin sorting is basically a civic duty. How many times have you had your bin collection rejected due to one rogue item? The collection teams have a hard enough job already, I can’t blame them for not wanting to hand-sort rubbish that we were too lazy to do ourselves. I think I speak for everyone when I say I’d rather not show up to my third-year house greeted by the previous tenants’ junk all over the front garden and collection crews on strike. So, take a look at Bristol Waste’s disposal guide, and dispose responsibly!