Gift it Reuse it (GiRi) is a flagship initiative that allows students leaving halls of residence (and in fact any student who has unwanted items) to donate unwanted household items to new arrivals. Run by the University’s Sustainability and Commercial, Residential & Campus Services teams, GiRi operates every summer and in pop-up shops throughout the academic year.
Launched in the summer of 2024 on Streatham campus, it forms part of the University’s Circular Economy strategy. At designated collection points, students were encouraged to drop off items such as kitchenware, small appliances and other essentials that they no longer wanted. These were sorted, cleaned and PAT-tested (where necessary) before being offered to incoming students in ‘Free Shops’ at the start of the new academic year.
The scheme aims to:
- promote sustainability: Encourage reuse and reduce the likelihood that good quality household items end up in waste streams.
- support students in need: Provide essential household items to incoming students, some of whom may face financial challenges or difficulty in transporting items to and from university.
- embed circular economy principles: Foster a culture of sustainability within the student community by demonstrating the value of reuse.
Between June and September 2024, the GiRi scheme received approximately 8,554 donated items (weighing 1,623 kg), which would have created an estimated 18,016 kg of CO₂ emissions— the amount that would have been released if these items had entered waste streams and been incinerated for energy.
Gift it Reuse's Big Collection will run again from May to September 2025. If you are a halls of residence student looking to donate items, further details can be found on the Moving Out webpage (see ‘Donating unwanted items’) with more information on donation points. Students living outside of halls of residence off-campus can also donate - keep an eye out on the University’s Sustainability Instagram for where and when.
