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The Dorm Donation Project
Shannon is the proud founder of the Dorm Donation Project at The New School rehoming over 16,000 pounds of home goods from the landfill.
The foundation of The Dorm Donation Project is to extend the usage of existing home goods and household products to reduce reproduction and waste volumes. All while increasing satisfaction in consumption by providing equal and equitable access to rescued home goods to all students across the university.
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“We often treat things as if they have an expiration date when they don’t. I find they have more value, better quality, and quite frankly, an aura about them that new items simply do not have. I love knowing my items have a story or have had a life longer than mine. Consumerism has ruined the idea that when you purchase something you are making an investment, an investment that that thing should last you a lifetime. I firmly believe that if it doesn’t last you a lifetime then it’s not worth purchasing.” - Shannon Hughes, TNS News Article 2024
"We are not the first to run a program like this and we most certainly can not let this be the last! It’s up to us to keep reusing items and reduce manufacturing of items. Reusing is intrinsic to human nature but has been lost in the modern yearn for items since the Industrial Revolution.​"
Her efforts have been featured in The New York Post where she spoke about sustainability, circular economy and how a project like this came to be. Over the two years she's run the program she has given presentations to numerous classes at universities across Manhattan sharing her story, encouraging: the replication of the program in more ways than just home goods, how circular economy can be applied to every aspect of your life and practiced in order to save the planet and your wallet.
