Isla Vista Community Services District Prepares for Move-Out
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Isla Vista, CA – Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) has been preparing for move-out since the beginning of this year. An important goal of the District has been to facilitate a more sustainable and less disruptive move-out process at the end of each school year. Historically, this has posed a major issue with waste management. Every year, “Move Out” generates about 1 million pounds of waste to be collected. Over 20.2 million pounds of material has been removed from the streets of Isla Vista since 2000.
In March IVCSD hosted the first-ever community-wide yard sale. The rain didn’t deter 96 people from hosting 30-yard sales at their houses and the Isla Vista Community Center. The event was such a hit and highly requested that there will be another opportunity on May 27th for residents and community members to host or attend a yard sale from 10am-2pm. If you want to host a yard sale, sign up here.
With Spring Quarter being full of events, finals, graduation, and moving, residents often have difficulty getting to donation centers. To keep perfectly good items out of the landfill, IVCSD’s Isla Vista Beautiful (IVB) Team has been hosting an unwanted item pick up allowing residents to leave items on their doorstep and the IVB team picks them up via the e-bike. Items are then donated to local nonprofits and anything leftover goes to the thrift store. By beginning to collect unwanted items early on, the District is helping to prevent thrift stores from being bombarded in June.
The District will support the operations of UCSB’s annual GIVE Sale by helping recruit volunteers and staffing operations. If you are interested in volunteering you can sign up here. Every year, GIVE saves approximately 40 tons of donated goods from landfill. Volunteers help organize and sort donations any time from June 14 – June 23, 8 am to 8 pm. By volunteering, you will earn money for an Isla Vista non-profit and students can earn community service hours. More information can be found here.
Thrift stores are overflowing during this time and can’t always accept donated furniture and other items. Therefore the District is going to store any leftover furniture from the GIVE Sale throughout the summer for a Welcome Sale in September. IVCSD will coordinate all the storage logistics and host a big Welcome Sale with leftover items for students to furnish their new apartments for the year.
The County of Santa Barbara partners with Marborg to increase service in Isla Vista throughout move-out. Starting the week before graduation and continuing for about two weeks, Marborg has trash trucks out daily collecting bulky items and other discarded materials from the curbside as well as emptying trash and recycling bins. The District helps to distribute all of this information including the guidelines of what is accepted and where other items can be properly disposed of. It can all be found on IVCSD’s website.
In addition to giving residents multiple options to get rid of unwanted items towards the end of the school year, the goal is to help residents acknowledge that the choices they make throughout the entire year will impact the amount of waste created during move-out. By integrating sustainable practices into their lives, preparing to move early, and taking the time to ensure their unwanted items have a home, the residents of Isla Vista can benefit the environment while experiencing a less stressful move-out experience. Education is key and begins at the start of each new academic year.
Throughout the year, the IVB team has been collecting boxes to keep them out of landfill and prevent residents from having to buy new boxes. Boxes will be passed out to community members at the end of May to start packing their items. To address food recovery, IVCSD’s Compost Collective hosts a food drive to collect unwanted non-perishable items to donate back into the community. Last year 2.3 thousand pounds of edible food was collected.
IVCSD has a webpage dedicated to all this information and other move-out resources, including local storage facilities, donation sites, how to dispose of bulky items, sustainable move-out tips, and local contact information. The District is grateful for County Public Works’ efforts during this time Marborg’s 2-week increased services of emptying trash bins and collecting bulky items multiple times per day.
Jenna Norton, IVCSD’s Isla Vista Beautiful Program Manager, shared “I have lived through several “move-outs” here in Isla Vista. I know firsthand how disruptive, stressful, and wasteful this time of year can be. It has been a pleasure to have been given the opportunity to work on brand-new ways to improve this process. While we may not see immediate change, I believe that consistency in education and the opportunity to rid of unwanted items throughout the years will change the culture of “move out”.
“Since 1990, the GIVE Benefit Sale has accepted donations of unwanted and reusable goods, furniture, and canned and packaged foods during Isla Vista and UCSB’s annual move-out time in June. The donations are sold at a giant sale and 100% of proceeds benefit organizations and projects that improve the quality of life in Isla Vista. Unsold items are donated to local thrift stores,” shared Viviana Marsano, UCSB’s Director of Civic and Community Engagement and Isla Vista liaison.
