Student donations to the Green Move-Out program rose slightly this year with volunteers collecting over 3,700 bags of donations.

Nearly eight percent more bags of clothing and other items were donated after the 2011 move-out process, with a total of 3,756 bags collected in the residence halls. This is up from 3,478 bags collected last year, and 2,169 bags in 2009.

Food donations decreased with 3,458 pounds collected this year compared to the 4,778 pounds in 2010.

The program started five years ago as a student-led initiative in response to the vast amount of food, clothing and other items left behind in residence halls after move-out each year.

“It connects to our institution’s core values and lessens the burden of University staff who would have to otherwise dispose of items that benefit a multitude of charity partners at a time of year when donations are traditionally low,” Tawanna Lee, associate director of housing programs and co-chair for the Green Move Out program in 2011, said.

Nearly all of the items collected were donated to area charities, including the food collection services Bread for the City, So Others Might Eat, Capital Area Food Bank, and Miriam’s Kitchen. Clothing and other items were donated to charities such as the National Children’s Center.

Program organizers said there are still a few problems they plan to work out for next year’s move-out.

“We did observe less discipline this year among the students in sorting their donated items into appropriate donation bins,” Thomas Dwyer, managing director of GW Property Management, said. “Furthermore, there seem to be a number of what appeared to be usable items being discarded into the trash receptacles instead being placed into the donation bins.”