{"id":363835,"date":"2026-06-17T04:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T04:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/363835\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T04:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T04:53:10","slug":"illegal-dumping-in-berkeley-spikes-when-students-graduate-and-move-out-heres-how-cal-program-aims-to-curb-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/363835\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal dumping in Berkeley spikes when students graduate and move out: Here’s how Cal program aims to curb it"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERKELEY, Calif (KGO) — Thousands of University of California, Berkeley students graduated last month, and for the city, May is also when student move-outs bring a spike in illegal dumping.<\/p>\n

The annual move-out period has long created clutter on city streets with discarded furniture and household items piling up.<\/p>\n

“If you drive around most of Berkeley, you can see people leave stuff on the street,” recent graduate Graeme Bates said. “It’s like a huge mess everywhere.”<\/p>\n

Scenes around the city reflect that problem, including abandoned items ranging from couches to empty beer kegs and propane canisters.<\/p>\n

City officials warn that illegal dumping can carry a fine of up to $500 per day.<\/p>\n

In response, the university launched the Cal Move Out and Cooperative Reuse program in 2018 to divert usable goods from the landfill.<\/p>\n

The program allows students, faculty, staff and alumni to drop off unwanted items at the Clark Kerr campus parking lot.<\/p>\n

“Which is honestly a really great solution to the massive problem of illegal dumping that is incredibly prevalent here in the Bay Area,” said Kimiya Attar, a student coordinator with the Zero Waste Coalition.<\/p>\n

MORE: Oakland doubling fines to $5,000, deploying drones as it cracks down on illegal dumping<\/a><\/p>\n

For many students, the move-out process reveals just how much they have accumulated.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, you don’t realize how much you have until you move out. We do end up with so much like we have a printer, we have like multiple desks,” said graduate Emewodesh Eshete.<\/p>\n

Participants are encouraged to donate items in usable condition rather than discard them. Bates, who is moving to the East Coast for a job after earning his undergraduate degree in math, said he chose to give away his furniture.<\/p>\n

“You could try and sell it but it’s better to give it to people who need it,” he said.<\/p>\n

The program also accepts canned goods and small household items, though mattresses are not collected.<\/p>\n

Instead, the university works with NorCal moving services to transport broken items and mattresses to the Berkeley transfer center.<\/p>\n

At the end of May and for 10 days, the public can visit the site to take donated items free of charge.<\/p>\n

City employees are also aware of the effort.<\/p>\n

“The Berkeley City Manager sent out the weekly email to staff, notifying that this event was taking place and I’ve heard about it previously,” said city employee Jenny McNulty.<\/p>\n

MORE: East Bay dump truck pours debris onto customer’s yard after dispute over unpaid bill: video<\/a><\/p>\n

Organizers say the program has made a measurable impact.<\/p>\n

“We average around 200,000 pounds of furniture and other items each year,” Attar said.<\/p>\n

Those donations represent items that otherwise could have ended up in the landfill.<\/p>\n

Beyond reducing waste, organizers say the initiative is also about changing behavior.<\/p>\n

“It’s really astonishing to see how many items my fellow peers are dropping off that they not used once in their four years at the university,” Attar said.<\/p>\n

“I think this program poses a lesson on how we should all be more conscientious of our consumption habits while we are living in this city.”<\/p>\n

As Berkeley continues to grapple with illegal dumping during peak move-out season, university officials and students alike hope the reuse program can ease the burden on city streets while encouraging more sustainable habits.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERKELEY, Calif (KGO) — Thousands of University of California, Berkeley students graduated last month, and for the city,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[147755,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-363835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-147755","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}