PHILADELPHIA — It’s a trashy post in a neighborhood group almost every May.
College students across Philadelphia move out and their curbs become obstacle courses full of heaps of rancid trash subject to the elements as students toss refrigerator contents, clothes, furniture, electronics, and more.
In North Philly some call it Temple Christmas, in West Philly it’s Penn Christmas — monikers that come from the treasures people sometimes find among the trash. But others call it an outrage as they try to navigate scattered piles of trash on the sidewalks.
“I do think some of the biggest piles were picked up before a bunch of the rain [last week],” said Abe Lee, 22, a Temple grad who lives in West Philly. “But I’ve been seeing stuff out every day.”
Walking around their University City neighborhood this week, Lee found sneakers that retail for $70, as well as Urban Outfitters and Zara dresses, all like new on top of trash. The sneakers and a dress still had tags.
“There’s so many income inequalities around West Philly right in front of you, and instead of choosing to knock on the door of your neighbor and say, ‘Hey, you want this?’ people just throw it out,” said Lee. “There’s so many programs that would do that for you too if you just donate it.”
According to the city, landlords and universities are responsible for proper disposal of student trash. Some universities partner with the Streets Department to subsidize extra trash collection shifts and temporary dumpsters, though the city didn’t specify which ones.
Overall, the approaches to mitigate move-out trash vary widely by university.
A Temple spokesperson said it works with landlords to address trash concerns year-round. When the semester ends, an email goes out to students with information on moving out from residence halls and off-campus housing, including links on how to donate food and furniture. The email is followed up with door-to-door canvassing ahead of July, when leases often change, to remind students of dumpsters the school places.
Temple and Drexel University say they follow up on resident complaints about certain properties and inform students of neighborhood cleanups.
Though Drexel’s term doesn’t end until June, a spokesperson said the school similarly sends out reminders of proper garbage disposal off-campus and donation locations across University City.
Meanwhile, Penn offers a service to students looking to donate the items they can’t take with them but could find another life. PennMOVES collects more than 52,000 pounds of items from students moving out in May, including nonperishable food and housewares to donate or recycle. The university said the effort is paired with online campaigns encouraging students to “think sustainably” as they move out.
Still, the gaps in these efforts are visible to Lee and other people who have taken to social media to share the mess left behind. Photos and videos accompany complaints about mobility, sparking debates about whether landlords should be held more accountable or how students should know better.
Other residents wonder if rummagers picking through the trash bear some responsibility for the mess.
Lee said the piles are disrespectful to full-time residents and sanitation workers who have to deal with strewn trash in a city already known for its litter. But the known timing of the annual deluge of dumping at off-campus housing also seems like a wasted opportunity to upcycle gently used or new items.
Beyond concerns for the environment and neighborhood, Penn senior Tommy Bavuso, 21, said universities should consider how current students’ university experience is marred by the trash problem.
Had the incoming residents of their old apartment not wanted some desks, a couch, and a bed frame no longer needed by Bavuso’s housemates, the roommates would have struggled in disposing of them.
“There’s a lot of anxiety and stress that is involved with moving out and even moving in sometimes and you’re not really concerned with taking a massive couch to some Penn building where we can donate,” explained Bavuso after being greeted at his new unit with a curb full of furniture parts, debris, and loose trash.
Terrill Haigler, who runs “Ya Fav Trashman” on social media and advocates for innovative litter solutions, has been posting images and videos sent to him of the trash heaps in West Philly. The posts have prompted residents to ask why such a predictable problem keeps repeating. Haigler said whatever universities are doing is not enough.
“No one deserves to live near that or to walk through that to go to work or school,” said Haigler.
