Hidden gems in students' dumped rubbish (From Daily Echo)
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TVs, pirate hats and a pop-up Kama Sutra dumped by students
8:30am Sunday 1st July 2012 in Environment
Students among some of the recycling recovered by Eco Ernie
IT’S a treasure trove of unwanted stuff collected from just one neighbourhood that includes laptops, luxury watches, rubber ducks, punch bags and pirate hats.
Even a mint condition pop-up Kama Sutra book was there for the taking from the tens of thousands of items jettisoned by end-of-year of students.
Among the haul were also one ton of clothes, hundreds of discarded shoes TVs, toasters, computer equipment and handbags.
But this mammoth mountain of items, piling up in a Southampton church, is all thanks to a local character.
For converted milk float Eco Ernie has been a familiar sight in Southampton’s Polygon as he ferried student’s unwanted possessions from kerbsides.
The float has been used by teams of volunteers as part of a Solent University scheme to cut mountains of rubbish that used to be left on residential streets and to provide a fundraising boost for the community.
Andy Brown, from Solent University student union who was helping with the junk busting drive, said: “What is amazing is that 70 to 80 per cent of all this can be reused.
“I am shocked at the amount of items that are good enough for the students to take home with them.
Comments(20)
Family Man
says...
9:04am Sun 1 Jul 12
Condor Man wrote:I suspect students were given lots of this stuff by mum and dad and therefore did not respect it in the same had they had to pay for it themselves from having to work for it.
I suspect students accumulate lots of stuff and are told not to bring it home by mum & dad.
userds5050
says...
9:56am Sun 1 Jul 12
SOULJACKER
says...
11:11am Sun 1 Jul 12
loosehead
says...
12:08pm Sun 1 Jul 12
TMeyer
says...
1:40pm Sun 1 Jul 12
We live in a wasteful, spoiled society and care about natural environment exists only on paper.
What Family Man wrote pretty much sums it up. Younger generations didn't have to earn anything of it with the work of their own hands and they don't appreciate what they have. It's saddening.
SaintJoeBhoy90
says...
2:11pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Huffter
says...
2:26pm Sun 1 Jul 12
TMeyer wrote:It's not just younger generations - a while ago I helped a friend clear out his mother's house after she had died - the two back bedrooms were filled floor to ceiling with things she had collected in her life.... over 300 coats, 37 shopping trolleys, several hundred bars of soap, 8 sewing machines, enough umbrellas to supply Wimbledon Tennis... students tend to throw things out at the end of their time... older people just hoard it and leave it for someone else to sort out.
Daily Echo should pay a visit to various halls of residence around Southampton. You would be amazed by the amount of stuff going straight to the landfill. Stuff that could be easily collected by the charities and aid some good cause... We live in a wasteful, spoiled society and care about natural environment exists only on paper. What Family Man wrote pretty much sums it up. Younger generations didn't have to earn anything of it with the work of their own hands and they don't appreciate what they have. It's saddening.
loosehead
says...
2:44pm Sun 1 Jul 12
SaintJoeBhoy90 wrote:I said nothing against the students did I?
Bore off you bunch of miserable sh1t ****! Up the students!
if the halls of residence have a lot of discarded goods then surely as good PR why not take it to a car boot sale (Burseldon)Sell it & then give it to a worthwhile local concern( OAP drop in centre,Disability centre etc;) this would help the locals & help bring about a feel good factor with locals & students.
Personally I think this would be great if either the Students Union or the Uni's did this & would applaud them for doing it
Portswood Pete
says...
4:08pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Chas O'Bursledon
says...
5:25pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Portswood Pete wrote:Obviously you are not the parent of a student. Mine work hard, play hard and occasionally drink hard. They will add value long before they have paid off their personal debts which are incurred on tuition fees and exorbitant rents for places you would probably not be prepared to live!
Hang on, I thought students were dirt poor with debts to match Portsmouth Football Club! Between chucking out perfectly good gear and being drunk as a skunk most of the time, no wonder they're all up to their eyes in debt.
Portswood Pete
says...
5:30pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Chas O'Bursledon wrote:Just saying if they didn't go out getting bladdered most nights and throw away perfectly good gear, maybe they wouldn't be in such debt, or maybe they could afford decent digs.
Portswood Pete wrote:Obviously you are not the parent of a student. Mine work hard, play hard and occasionally drink hard. They will add value long before they have paid off their personal debts which are incurred on tuition fees and exorbitant rents for places you would probably not be prepared to live!
Hang on, I thought students were dirt poor with debts to match Portsmouth Football Club! Between chucking out perfectly good gear and being drunk as a skunk most of the time, no wonder they're all up to their eyes in debt.
cantthinkofone
says...
6:57pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Dresnez
says...
10:11pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Portswood Pete wrote:Yes but a significant number trash their digs so landlords have to re-coup the losses and this drives up rents.
Chas O'Bursledon wrote:Just saying if they didn't go out getting bladdered most nights and throw away perfectly good gear, maybe they wouldn't be in such debt, or maybe they could afford decent digs.
Portswood Pete wrote:Obviously you are not the parent of a student. Mine work hard, play hard and occasionally drink hard. They will add value long before they have paid off their personal debts which are incurred on tuition fees and exorbitant rents for places you would probably not be prepared to live!
Hang on, I thought students were dirt poor with debts to match Portsmouth Football Club! Between chucking out perfectly good gear and being drunk as a skunk most of the time, no wonder they're all up to their eyes in debt.
People are very wasteful these days always wanting the latest technology - driven by big business who build in obsolescence and changing fashions.
This could all change as the austerity measures bite.
The old lady probably hoarded stuff because she didn't have much when she was growing up, rations during war time made it a sin to throw good stuff away in case you needed it. Try being a little charitable to the elderly.
The one thing you can say for the continent of Europe is that they treat their elderly with respect - many (not necessarily students but student parents etc) treat the elderly with hatred (not everyone fortunately) and that is shameful.
Poppy22
says...
1:52am Mon 2 Jul 12
Family Man wrote:Couldn't believe it when a friend told me her son had dumped all the brand new stuff she'd paid a lot of money for and he's only just finishing his first uni year.
Condor Man wrote: I suspect students accumulate lots of stuff and are told not to bring it home by mum & dad.I suspect students were given lots of this stuff by mum and dad and therefore did not respect it in the same had they had to pay for it themselves from having to work for it.
No respect for either the stuff itself nor the time or effort spent by the parent buying it.
Thank goodness someone in Southampton is collecting it and doing something with it.
Students doing this should be ashamed of themselves, and their parents should stop buying their offspring anything else in the future and let them earn the money for it themselves.
Catlyn9999
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2:09am Mon 2 Jul 12
loosehead
says...
8:26am Mon 2 Jul 12
Catlyn9999 wrote:Now you have heard the halls of residence are crammed full with unwanted goods which are perfectly good will you be looking into obtaining them?
It seems the trash is not only on the streets of the Polygon, but also a high percentage of the comments that have been written on here are as well!!!! Eco Ernie is superb, full credit to the staff of Solent Uni for coming up with that idea a few years back. Does Southampton University operate such a scheme? I am closely linked with the Student areas and Eco Ernie saves me a lot of work!
this could be a God send to local groups or charities & would help raise the image of the students even though they will be considered wasteful but still doing good for this city?
Shoong
says...
11:49am Mon 2 Jul 12
SaintJoeBhoy90 wrote:And you wonder why students get a bad rap...
Bore off you bunch of miserable sh1t ****! Up the students!
sarfhamton
says...
12:10pm Tue 3 Jul 12
cantthinkofone wrote:Yes, at least Solent are doing something about it
What an excellent scheme. Well done to the folks behind it at Solent.
henry2*
says...
8:34pm Tue 3 Jul 12
Condor Man says...
9:01am Sun 1 Jul 12