Editorial: Donate, don’t ditch used furniture

It’s that time of the year. Finals week is quickly approaching, caps and gowns are being… It’s that time of the year. Finals week is quickly approaching, caps and gowns are being fitted for graduation, and students living off campus are writing their final rent checks. For those leaving their apartments or houses, they also have the whole moving-out project to anticipate.

But even after all the boxes and suitcases are stuffed with clothes, tableware, DVDs and all other knickknacks, there remains another dilemma: what to do with all the furniture.

Your average desk, dresser or coffee table is too cumbersome to fit in an already crammed van or car. Most students leaving their off-campus abodes must leave these items behind. And although some will drag their furniture to the curb to be picked up with the trash, students shouldn’t forget their alternatives.

The Oakland Planning and Development Corporation already has a viable solution. From the end of April to the middle of August, the OPDC will collect used furniture to resell to students in the fall.

Unless that kitchen table of yours is missing a leg or that lamp refuses to light, students should take advantage of donating their used — but not broken — furniture to the OPDC’s program. For students scrounging for items to furnish their new residences in the fall, they’ll at least have the option to buy lower-priced furniture that’s still in decent condition. The OPDC had a selection of about 350 items in decent condition last year.

Of course, there’s always the prospect of selling your furniture or giving it to a friend. Both of these solutions are practical, too. No matter how students recycle their furniture, it beats the alternative: sending perfectly usable goods to a landfill.

At the very least, one could always tack a ‘Free’ or ‘Take Me’ sign to that couch or nightstand before dragging it to the street. But if that’s the situation, why not donate it to OPDC’s Furniture Recycling Program?

Oakland’s streets aren’t exactly litter free, and they certainly don’t need more items clogging up sidewalks or potentially becoming litter. Also, these items definitely won’t be much good to anyone if they’re thrown in a landfill.

The accessibility of the OPDC’s program is all the more timely and applicable in light of the recently instated ban of couches on porches. OPDC has made it clear that it doesn’t want couches that have suffered weather damage or are infested with rodents or insects, but the corporation will take them otherwise.

Really, the responsibility lies in students’ hands.

While it’s easier just to toss everything onto the street, the benefit for future students outweighs the slight efforts on part of the students moving out.

Selling one’s furniture can be as simple as a quick online listing, and donating to OPDC is as easy as taking goods to its office or giving its volunteers a phone call to have them pick up any unwanted furniture.

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