Sustainability Stories

What makes Santa Clara feel like home for arriving first-year students? Along with the welcoming California sunshine and SCU’s supportive faculty and staff, the Center for Sustainability recognizes how essential accessible resources are for arriving students 

This fall, 87 first-generation LEAD scholars claimed over 500 free dorm essentials at our Bronco Surplus market, shopping with their families to make their new home at SCU a place of their own. This is just one part of our year-round commitment to a campus circular economy of reuse and redistribution.

At the Center for Sustainability’s Zero Waste Move Out, a team of volunteer Waste Warriors monitor the dumpsters to save reusable items like microwaves, organizers, lamps and mini-fridges. Our Reuse Rescuers take the items to free Move-Out Marketplaces across campus, where all Broncos are invited to take items. At 2026’s move out, volunteers diverted over 5 tons of material from the waste stream—reserving items for Bronco Surplus and Bucky's Closet, while donating surplus goods to Goodwill of Silicon Valley, books to Alviso Friends of the Library, edible food to local food banks via Copia, and compost materials to the Forge Garden. That’s over 10,000 pounds of waste that would have gone into dumpsters! Instead, SCU was able to reduce move-out landfill waste by 30% compared to 2025, saving thousands of dollars in extra dumpster runs.

Beyond reducing waste and costs, a thriving circular economy also addresses equity and access. For 2026 commencement, the Center for Sustainability piloted a new gown reuse program, which loaned full graduation regalia to Basic Needs students and encouraged grads to donate their gowns after the ceremony. Developed by students in ENVS 195: Sustainability Internship Practicum, the pilot collected 56 gowns, which will save Basic Needs students $14,000 in graduation regalia costs.

The overwhelming success of Zero Waste Move Out saw our Bronco Surplus storage space packed to capacity. While our community partner Goodwill of Silicon Valley was able to take excess items, our primary goal is to increase equitable access to all Broncos. We are currently working to grow our volunteer roster and secure additional storage space to ensure even more students can thrive while SCU is the place they call home.

Learn more about SCU's thriving Circular Economy.