University of Michigan students may have left behind fewer recyclables in recent weeks than in years past, but student move-out is still a major boon for local charities.

Normally, student move-out yields about 14 tons of usable goods, from food to clothing to home appliances. This year, staffers with the U-M recycling program estimated the yield was about half that. 

Even so, thousands of Ann Arbor-area residents are expected to benefit from what students left behind.

The recyclables come mostly from U-M residence halls, but also come from recycling bins in major academic buildings. After about a week of sorting the goods, U-M allowed local non-profits to pick them up on Monday.

The University of Michigan has held recycling drives during move-out since spring 1991.

Student move-out is a major boon for local nonprofits.

Courtesy of U-M

First up was the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, then St. Vincent de Paul, then the Salvation Army and later Purple Heart - each occupying two-hour shifts. Food Gatherers will pick up about two big boxes full of food items.

Staffers with the nonprofits said they figured the economy was the culprit for this year's diminished haul. With unemployment in Michigan at 15 percent and approaching double-digits nationally, students might have less to waste and parents may be less inclined to let them waste.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. "The first R is for Reduce," said Tracy Artley, recycling coordinator at U-M, referring to the popular recycling slogan "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

"If people are wasting less to begin with, we welcome that," Artley said.

Susan Soth of the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop agreed.

"It's not a bad thing that students are throwing out less stuff," Soth said. "I suspect a lot of that is parents telling their kids to bring home the things they might've thrown out in the past."

Soth said hundreds of people would benefit from what the PTO shop hauled in - mostly clothing and household items. The PTO also hauled furniture from the city-owned recycling bins at Oakland and East University, and snagged two truckloads of goods Monday.

Move-out used to be the single biggest day of the year for PTO, Soth said, but that might change this year.

Jennifer Hackett, manager of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Lower Town, said that while the mission of St. Vincent de Paul is giving to the needy, the store also relies on paying customers. St. Vincent not only runs the store on Broadway, but also keeps an aid office in St. Thomas Church on Elizabeth Street. 

"It's a major misconception that the only people we serve are in need," Hackett said. "We get students coming in to shop for themselves, we get actors coming in to buy something for a role, we get all kinds of people. And we need a good balance between customers and the people we're able to assist."

Community members in need are allowed $20 of free clothing at the store once every 90 days, Hackett said.

On Monday, de Paul focused its haul on shoes and household items. Volunteers plugged in fans and lights and other electronics to make sure they work before schlepping them back to Lower Town.

"We don't give people clothes where the zipper doesn't work and there's stuff wrong with it," Hackett said. "People don't want projects, they want items they can bring home and use right away."

Hackett stressed that de Paul's charity gifts come from the same source as the clothes it sells.

"There is no 'as-is' at St. Vincent de Paul," Hackett said. "If I wouldn't wear it, I won't sell it."

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.