Student - April 26, 2007

‘Furniture was still perfectly usable'

A container for waste in front of the Leeuwenborch building caused a stir on Monday 23 April. Bystanders couldn’t understand why so much furniture still in good condition was being thrown away.

A lorry collected a container full of old furniture from the Leeuwenborch last Monday afternoon. / photo Joyce Zwartkruis
They’ve cleared out the basement in the Leeuwenborch, but lots of the furniture was still perfectly usable, says Ramona Langanki, a student of international development studies. ‘Students and staff, and people from the canteen have fished all sorts of things out of the container to take home,’ said Langanki, who watched the comings and goings the whole day from where she was studying. She couldn’t understand why tables that student houses would be happy to have were being carted off by the garbage collectors so that more would fit in the container.

According to the assistant manager of the building, Sjaak Alderliesten, the tables from the lecture theatre were no longer usable. ‘Some were broken or did not meet health and safety standards. The things had been sitting in the basement for a year. After the renovations we asked if anyone wanted anything, but there was litle response,’ said Alderliesten, who says that to the best of his knowledge everything has been dealt with as it should, and at last there’s more storage space in the basement.

Langanki thinks that the university is showing double standards. ‘They preach sustainability, but don’t practise it themselves. They could have easily arranged a day when people could come and collect stuff for free. Perhaps that’s an idea for other buildings where things are left behind after the move?’