This is all the towels and bedding I scavenged during move-out week. Rather than end up rotting in the rain, or hauled to a landfill, it went to the Humane Society. I also had five huge bags of perfectly good clothing that I donated to Goodwill. And this is only a fraction of the stuff that got thrown away by departing students.

I’m already thinking ahead to next year. This year, I only focused on my immediate neighborhood for logistical reasons: I just didn’t have the space in my cluttered, crowded basement to sort, wash, and store any more stuff than I brought home. And I had to wash at least half of it, because otherwise it was going to stink up the basement with a combined funk of mildew, garbage, and the disgusting flowery-perfumy chemical reek of scented cosmetics, candles, and cleaning products. Seriously–college-aged women buy the most aggressively perfumed shit imaginable, and if I didn’t wash things as soon as I brought them home, the cloying stink would have fouled my basement for months.

So next year? I’m planning ahead. I’m going to get the basement cleared out, so I have space to deal with more bags of stuff. I’m going to come up with a better means for hauling larger loads home from further afield. I’m going to use the laundromat to wash everything that needs it, rather than grind away a it one load at a time in my aging home washer and dryer. I’d like to double, or even triple the amount of donations I make, and spread it out across more groups who could use it.

As sick of doing laundry as I got, and as insane as I started to think I was for going to all that effort, I had a great time doing this; it was immensely satisfying seeing all of those bags stacked by the fence, knowing everything in them would be put to good use. I don’t know why I didn’t start doing this years ago, but now that I’ve done it, I’m looking forward to making it an annual event.