University of Pittsburgh
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

The University of Pittsburgh's regulated wastes are managed and tracked by Pitt’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). Pitt EH&S has been focused on environmentally friendly waste treatment methods for 15+ years, including striving each year towards increasing the amount of chemical waste that is recycled, re-used or re-purposed. In 2020, Pitt updated its hazardous waste management contract with Veolia; as a result, in 2022, 70% of Pitt’s chemical waste was processed via waste to energy, fuels blending, or other sustainable options
>> https://www.ehs.pitt.edu/news/ehs-exceeds-sustainability-goals-chemical-waste-disposal

Fiscal Year 2008 is the first year for which reliable, University-wide materials diversion data is available -- and has been used by the University as a baseline for reporting progress for other purposes. however, no chemical recycling data is available for FY08.

The University of Pittsburgh has a robust construction and demolition recycling program (described in detail in Credit OP-19, but the numbers are not included above because they would skew totals).

Beyond single stream recycling, the University also recycles batteries, carpet, chemicals, corrugated cardboard, electronic equipment and devices, fluorescent light bulbs, mattresses, surplus items (including white goods), textiles, toner and ink cartridges, Keurig K-Pods, pharmaceuticals, and gloves (select custodial, housekeeping, and laboratory engagement).

The University also has a robust Surplus Property operation that collects used items from University departments and resells or donates the items to other University departments, local organizations, and the public. The program handles items including office furniture, lab equipment, musical instruments, computers, and even vehicles, diverting over 310 tons of materials from the landfill to reuse and/or recycling in FY23 alone, including:

• 480,987 pounds of metal
• 59,178 pounds of electronics
• 56,746 pounds of cardboard
• 24,024 pounds of textiles

Pitt’s materials diversion and zero waste webpage: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/zerowaste/

Pitt Surplus: https://www.pittsurplus.com/

FOOD RECOVERY

The University of Pittsburgh has been a third-party verified Food Recovery Verified Campus since 2017, when we were the first campus in the ACC to become so. In FY23, 31,431 pounds of food was recovered from campus and donated.

Pitt’s Food Recovery program is coordinated by Pitt's Dinng and retail food service provider (Compass / Chartwells) and Food Recovery Heroes, the Pitt student chapter of the Food Recovery Network.

In 2023, Pittsburgh campus food lockers were introduced to make food delivery more convenient -- and to and double as a place for Pitt community members in need to access free meals while reducing food waste.
>> Learn more - https://www.pitt.edu/pittwire/features-articles/pitt-food-locker-delivery

FOOD RECOVERY LINKS
• Pitt Food Recovery Verified Campus - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/awards/food-recovery-verified-campus/
• Pitt Food Recovery Heroes student group - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/student-organizations/food-recovery-heroes/
• Pitt Food Locker article - https://www.pitt.edu/pittwire/features-articles/pitt-food-locker-delivery

Service audits are routinely conducted by our composting hauler.

Service audits are performed by the general waste and recycling haulers upon request.

SIGNAGE - Since it was created in 2019, adoption and deployment of new, University-wide materials diversion signage has been slow. Publicly downloadable online, this signage covers all recycling streams, is color coded, and provides visual examples of what commodities can be diverted from the landfill. These visual cues aid the Pitt community in the determining what can be recycled at the user level. Commonly used signs are easily downloaded by the Pitt community online for easy use: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/zerowaste/signage/.

Because recycling locations for specialty commodities are by building, signage for batteries, textiles, or ink / toner is available by request only.

EDUCATION - As it's often the first question people ask about campus sustainability, Pitt's Sustainability team and interns do regular education for various campus communities about materials diversion (including as part of student orientations, employee trainings, and regular on-campus speaking engagements).

DINING REUSEABLES - Pitt's Sustainability Plan “Food Systems” goals focus on expediting the shift to reusable to-go beverage and food containers. Pitt’s residential dining locations (The Eatery and The Perch) are reusable by default; on-campus catering also offers reusable serving and dinnerware for events.

COMPOSTING: The University’s compostable diversion offerings have expanded dramatically since 2014, including scaling up across campus. In 2018, compostable diversion was embedded into the Pitt Green Event designation; in 2021, this feature evolved with the solitary event designation into the more widely impactful Pitt Green Host training.
>> Pitt Green Host training - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/get-involved/pitt-green-host-events/.

Both student and employee Pitt Green Hosts assist in ensuring the University's compostable streams from events remains clear of contamination, alongside Facilities Management professionals.

In parallel, the University expanded consumer-focused collection to 8 Pittsburgh campus buildings in 2019 – and temporarily to pre-consumer diversion from residential and retail dining locations in FY21 and FY22. Compostable collection is visualized in the Pitt Sustainability Dashboard by month and building so the Pitt community can follow along with diversion progress:
>> https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/dashboard/.

DINING WASTE AUDITS - Since 2016, Pitt has been performing twice annual food waste audits in its residential dining halls to collect waste data and educate diners about food waste reduction strategies. Audits paused during the COVID pandemic and have had a slow restart with a new Dining contractor and sustainability team members. This information is tracked, reduction of food waste is written into our Dining contract, and it is also visualized on our Pitt Sustainability Dashboard to help educate the Pitt community about food waste
>> https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/dashboard/.

RACE TO ZERO WASTE AUDITS (formerly Recyclemania) - The University of Pittsburgh began participating in the national Campus Race to Zero Waste competition in 2010 – and has continued campus-wide education about zero waste and recycling programs and materials diversion tracking (usually, but not exclusively in the Spring semester). Notable achievements 2021 forward include:

• 2021 & 2022 – Due to the pandemic, Pitt did not publicly log materials diversion, but provided copious virtual educational and engagement opportunities in 2021 and a mix of in-person and virtual events in 2022.
• 2022 – Pitt menstrual health equity case study won first place in CR2ZW case study competition, “Education and Awareness” category.
• 2023 – Pitt published 2 Campus Race to Zero Waste case studies on Food Recovery Heroes and the Clean & Swap event.
>> https://campusracetozerowaste.org/resources/learn-from-your-peers/. 2) Student group Pitt Green Team ran an Adopt-A-Bin competition to raise awareness about recycling accuracy.

Since 2017, sustainability has been expanded within and strategically infused into and a number of Pitt’s supplier contracts, including the following focused on waste prevention:

1) ENDPOINT COMPUTING- Included language in Dell’s new contract requesting minimal packaging, recycled/recyclable goods, and prioritizing EPEAT Gold products. Tracking includes quarterly sustainability reporting and piloting plastic-free packaging for employee laptops.
2) FOOD SERVICES - Pitt Sustainability Plan goals are embedded into this 10-year Pitt contract, inked in 2020 with Chartwells (referred to as Pitt Eats). Partnerships and key performance indicators focus on the Real Food Challenge, Cool Food Pledge, to-go reusables, and waste reduction.
3) MANAGED PRINT - In FY23, the University put its managed print services contract out for bid, with the intention of optimizing campus-wide standalone printers and multifunction devices, while ensuring consistent service.
4) OFFICE SUPPLIES – Currently negotiating contract terms with selected university-wide contracted supplier. Pitt intends to incorporate continued K-Cup recycling program, ink and toner recycling program, reusable green-tote desktop delivery (in lieu of cardboard boxes), as well as a minimum item requirement to reduce small orders.
5) POURING RIGHTS - Contracted to offer healthy drink options on campus, while supporting campus-wide transition to more sustainable packaging options and reducing vending machine energy use.
6) SCIENTIFIC SUPPLIES - Updated in January 2023, Pitt’s third-largest contract (for scientific supplies) is held by Fisher Scientific, which supports laboratory sustainability through dedicated project funding focused on diverting polystyrene and hard plastics from landfills and circular economy solutions. The new Fisher Scientific contract also includes support for sustainability research, internships, and education.
7) WASTE & RECYCLING- The University-wide waste services agreement signed in 2023 includes an annual campus-wide waste audit along with development and implementation of strategies to reduce material sent to landfill 25% by 2030. Provider is also committed to sustainability educational events and will is exploring shifting their vehicle fleet to electric and/or alternative fuel vehicles.

Pitt encourages sustainable purchases that include durable, reusable, refillable, and rechargeable items; products that are made from recycled or remanufactured materials; products that were made using environmentally sound practices; products whose transfer or shipping process includes minimal packaging waste; products that avoid air shipping if possible; and products that can be disposed of in a manner safe to people and the environment at their end of life (if they cannot be reused or recycled). Sustainability funding has been incorporated in several University-wide contracts, allowing for pending implementation of pilot programs such as pipette tip recycling and polystyrene disposal. Pitt Purchasing has also worked with service providers and vendors to reduce waste related to packaging and transportation.

CLEAN & SWAP - Held for the first time in 2020 and repeated in 2022 and 2023, Pitt’s Clean & Swap program is an opportunity for employees and departments to de-clutter their workspaces by donating unwanted items to be reused within the University or donated to local nonprofits. The inaugural event in 2020 collected 728 pounds of unwanted office items. In 2022, over 3,155 pounds of office and medical supplies were collected and diverted from landfills. In 2023, the event helped divert 6,427 pounds of items from landfill.

>> More about Clean & Swap - https://sustainable.pitt.edu/get-involved/employees/purchasing/cleanswap/

SURPLUS - Pitt’s Surplus Property Department provides students and employees of the University with an economical way to both donate and purchase good quality used office furniture and equipment, thus reducing the amount of new items purchased while also diverting usable products from going to landfills.

Pitt Surplus is a convenient way for the Pitt community to dispose of unwanted items including electronics, furniture, miscellaneous items, vehicles, and more. Surplus Property collects used items from across the University, refurbishes them (if necessary), and sells them at a much-reduced price to internal departments, individuals, and the public. Financial credits are then provided back to the sourcing departments. Items that cannot be reused internally or sold externally are often donated to local charitable organizations. In FY23, Surplus sold 4,491 items back to campus and diverted over 310 tons of materials from the landfill to reuse and/or recycling.

>> Pitt Surplus: http://www.pittsurplus.com/

CHEMICALS: Pitt’s Environmental Health & Safety department runs a Chemical Redistribution program that provides faculty and staff with the opportunity to obtain chemicals free of charge. This program is available to University laboratories located on the Pittsburgh campus. The Chemical Redistribution Program can reduce expenses for both purchasing and waste disposal. The program emphasizes the University's commitment to the environmental protection by reducing the overall volumes of chemical waste generated.
Learn more: https://www.ehs.pitt.edu/chemical-redistribution-program

LAB EQUIPMENT: The University’s Office of Research has a peer-to-peer program where faculty can submit laboratory equipment for reuse to their curated database. The listed equipment then can be shared across campus with other departments at no cost, thus encouraging reuse and reducing the amount of new equipment being purchased for research.
Learn more: https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Research/Office-Of-Research/Shareable-Research-Equipment/Equipment-Shareable-by-Faculty

SURPLUS: As described previously, the University's Surplus Property department diverts University equipment and materials. http://www.pittsurplus.com/

UNIVERSITY OF THRIFTSBURGH - A student-founded and -operated thrift store on campus, the University of Thriftsburgh retail shop was founded in March 2015 and opened in the O'Hara Student Center (where it still is). Thriftsburgh’s mission is to promote sustainable purchasing for students on campus and to call attention to the policies of the textile industry and fashion industry; 6 part-time student coordinators run the store.

Open to the Pitt community and public to buy and donate secondhand clothing, shoes, and accessories, Thriftsburgh helps reduce textile waste, cut carbon, and promote a culture of reuse. In Fall 2023, Thriftsburgh sold over 2,500 separate items, helping materials find their next, best life.

Every August, Thriftsburgh hosts an annual Reuse Rummage Sale for arriving and returning students, selling secondhand clothing alongside dorm, kitchen, and bathroom essentials; items sold are collected during Clutter for a Cause events the prior Spring. At the 2023 Reuse Rummage sale, over 2,900 items were sold.

Learn more: https://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/care-and-resources/thriftsburgh

GO DIGITAL: Since 2019, paper use on the Pittsburgh campus has dropped by 70%. While these changes were driven by the pandemic, these continued reductions show that the Pitt community has embraced the change. Annually, Pitt students are printing nearly 300 pages less per student at Pitt Print Stations than pre-pandemic. In FY23 alone, Pitt students’ printing habits saved over 1,000 trees; 918,000 gallons of water; and 771,000 lbs of CO2e --equivalent to taking 70 cars off the road for a year. More about Pitt’s copious “Go Digital” efforts - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/get-involved/students/student-green-guide/save-paper/

PRINT STATIONS & DEFAULTS: When Pitt students need to print, they send their documents to any one of a number of self-service printing stations across campus. Over the years, these stations (located in/outside of all campus computing labs, campus residence halls, the student union, and other heavily traveled areas) have helped to cut down on the quantity of sheets of paper that are printed and then discarded. Before documents are printed, the student must physically go to the station and swipe his or her Pitt ID card (or entering the University username and password). At both Pitt Print stations and departmental multifunction devices or printers, all print jobs are set to print double-sided as the default. In 2024, the Pittsburgh campus will undergo an assessment of all printers to both consolidate devices and bring employee printing into alignment with this student printing process; these efforts will further reduce accidental and unnecessary prints.

PRINTING QUOTA: Registered students and faculty receive $63 per semester for printing, which can be used toward single or double-side printing, and black & white or color printing – and is equivalent to 900 black & white sheets (or ~128 color sheets). If they wish to exceed their print quota (which the vast majority of students do not), an additional fee is assessed. In FY23, the average Pitt student printed only 150 pages, indicating that less printing is both possible and necessary for academic and other Pitt pursuits. More about Pitt Print: https://www.technology.pitt.edu/services/pitt-print

TREE ZERO PAPER: From March 2019 through 2021, many Pitt departments and all Pitt Printing Stations switched to carbon neutral TreeZero paper. Made from 100% sugarcane waste fiber (not tree pulp), TreeZero was 100% recyclable and carbon neutral, making it a smart solution for the environment and budgets. Unfortunately, TreeZero paper (now rebranded “Tree Free”) is not currently available to commercial users, so Pitt users are encouraged to use recycled content paper. https://www.ppt.pitt.edu/news/treezero-paper-supply-shortage-alternatives

The University of Pittsburgh has been on a long journey to make materials available online by default rather than printing them. Several examples of this approach are below:

COURSE SECHEDULES: General course catalogs and more major-specific course catalogs are all available online. Course schedules and scheduling are available in the "Student Center" of each student's online self-service Pitt accounts. These self-service accounts enable incoming students to activate their network account information via an online portal, saving the paper previously associated with that process and cutting the University's carbon footprint by reducing the amount of mail delivered around the country.

REGISTRAR: Transcript requests, graduation applications, grade change forms, and most functions of the University Registrar have transitioned to all digital and online access.

ACADEMICS: Many courses utilize Canvas software and a solely digital exchange for turning in assignments and conducting quizzes or exams.

READ GREEN: Pitt's Read Green service allows 13,000+ employees to receive previously paper-based mailings and advertisements as a digital link delivered to their email inbox. In addition to significantly reducing paper waste, the program reduces the University's carbon footprint by reducing the need to transport University mail by truck both on the Pittsburgh Campus and among the University's four regional campuses.

HR, ONBOARDING, & PAYROLL: Nearly all onboarding, Human Resources, and payroll paperwork is conducted via digital services, including Microsoft SharePoint, utilizing DocuSign, and PittWorx, the University’s enterprise payroll management system.

ATHLETICS: In 2021, Pitt Football moved to entirely electronic ticketing, eliminating upwards of 40,000 printed tickets per home game.

GO DIGITAL: Since 2019, paper use on the Pittsburgh campus has dropped by 70%. While these changes were driven by the pandemic, these continued reductions show that the Pitt community has embraced the change. More about Pitt’s copious “Go Digital” efforts - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/get-involved/students/student-green-guide/save-paper/

CLUTTER FOR A CAUSE
Since 2013, Pitt has hosted a zero-waste move-out process with Clutter for a Cause. The multi-day event collects clothing, textiles, dorm room essentials, electronics, and non-perishable food items from both on- and off-campus locations at the end of the academic year in May and June. Led by the cross-departmental sustainability team with many partners, Clutter for a Cause helped keep 44,443 pounds of materials out of the landfill from 2018 to 2022. In Spring 2022, Clutter for a Cause collected a record breaking 21,689 pounds of materials (over 10 tons) during student move-out that may have otherwise gone to landfills.

On-campus students are asked to leave donate-able and reusable items behind in designated areas. Off-campus renters are invited to bring the items to be reused and recycled (instead of contributing to the landfill). The University helps the following items find reuse: non-perishable food; gently used clothing; small furniture; household items; books; school and office supplies; small appliances and electronics. University students and employees collect, sort and re-purpose or donate all household items, furniture, textiles, clothing and non-perishable food items.

Clutter for a Cause collections occur during move in, move out, and summer sessions. All items collected are either resold at the University of Thriftsburgh (on-campus thrift store) or donated to local thrift stores.

TEXTILE RECYCLING
The University of Pittsburgh launched its textile recycling program in 2020 — and now collects unusable textiles in 28 locations around campus (including 2 public drop-off sites). Pitt’s textile recycling program Public utilization of the University’s textile recycling offering has continued to be available (and widely used) across campus throughout the pandemic.

For easy and regular pickup by the University’s Logistics team, each Pitt textile recycling location is co-located with mailing services and/or existing specialty recycling for batteries and/or toner. Given that Pitt Sustainability prioritizes reuse, campus-wide emphasis is on collecting unusable textiles. Pitt community members are heavily encouraged to continue to donate items with wearable life in them to the University of Thriftsburgh (our on-campus thrift store) and local reuse and thrift stores.

In FY23, Pitt diverted 24,024 pounds of textiles from the landfill via the Textile Recycling program and Clutter for a Cause; University of Thriftsburgh resale is not included in these numbers.

PITT BIKE CAVE
The Pitt Bike Cave is an open-air, student-run, DIY bike shop on-campus that supports and improves the bike community at Pitt and in Pittsburgh via access to tools and mechanics, education, advocacy, and outreach. Pitt students, employees, and the public are invited to stop by the Pitt Bike Cave to buy a bike or bike accessories, fix your bike with our tools, donate bikes or bike parts, or have your bike repaired for free by one of our trained student bike mechanics! A proud part of Campus Recreation, the Pitt Bike Cave began selling repaired bikes in 2020.
Learn more: https://www.pts.pitt.edu/mobility/biking/pitt-bike-cave

» 2018-22 Progress Report on the Pitt Sustainability Plan, Materials & Resources section, https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/progress-report/materials-waste-2018-22/
» Pittsburgh's MRF is Recycle Source: https://www.recyclesourcellc.com/
» Pitt's Materials Diversion & Zero Waste website: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/zerowaste/
» Pitt's materials diversion signage: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/zerowaste/signage/
» Pitt Choose to Reuse program: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/food-dining/
» Pitt Surplus Property: https://www.pittsurplus.com/
» University of Thriftsburgh thrift store: https://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/care-and-resources/thriftsburgh

SPECIALTY RECYCLING STREAMS

The University of Pittsburgh has a number of specialty recycling streams that are handled and sorted internally and/or by external vendors. A tally of these commodity streams and handlers are below:

1) BATTERIES – After being collected at locations across campus, are picked up by Pitt Logistics and responsibly recycled by eLoop via a contract with Pitt Environmental Health & Safety.
2) BUILDING MATERIALS WITH REUSE POTENTIAL – For University renovation projects, Pitt Facilities partners with Pitt Surplus and local nonprofit Construction Junction on reclaiming items for potential reuse or resale. More details are provided in Credit OP-19.
3) CHEMICALS – Pitt’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) is responsible for the management of regulated wastes at the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt EH&S has been focused on environmentally friendly waste treatment methods for 15+ years, including striving each year towards increasing the amount of chemical waste that is recycled, re-used or re-purposed. In 2020, Pitt updated its hazardous waste management contract with Veolia; as a result, in 2022, 70% of Pitt’s chemical waste was processed via waste to energy, fuels blending, or other sustainable options (Learn more: https://www.ehs.pitt.edu/news/ehs-exceeds-sustainability-goals-chemical-waste-disposal)
Additionally, the Pitt Chemical Redistribution Program provides employees with the opportunity to obtain unopened chemicals free of charge, reducing expenses for purchasing and waste disposal. Pittsburgh campus members can donate a chemical, request free chemicals, or view our on-hand inventory - https://www.ehs.pitt.edu/chemical-redistribution-program This program was excluded from the "Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year" category, but we hope to include this data in future reports.
4) COMPOSTABLES – Primarily go to AgRecycle‘s commercial composting facility in Washington County, Pennsylvania. In the pandemic, the University had a contract with a small, local vendor, which allowed a brief expansion of pre-consumer compostable material diversion from residential and retail dining locations. New strategies in this category are being explored to help expand diversion of more compostables from landfill.
5) ELECTRONICS – Small electronics are collected at locations across campus and picked up by Pitt Logistics. Due to data security concerns, larger electronics can be dropped off at Pitt IT locations, during the annual Clean & Swap event, and/or employees can arrange for pickup by Pitt Logistics. Regardless of size, all electronics are properly decommissioned by Pitt Surplus; the University’s electronics waste is handled by external provider eLoop.
6) FACILITIES-RELATED ITEMS – Items related to facilities operation and/or construction are generally handled by Pitt Facilities Management. Recycled items include carpet, fluorescent light bulbs, scrap metal (aluminum, steel, stainless steel, copper, etc.), and white goods. Construction and demolition waste is also diverted from landfill (as explained in credit OP-19).
7) GLOVES – Select Pitt custodians, housekeepers, offices, and laboratories participate in the University’s fledgling glove recycling and/or waste to energy offerings. Most gloves are currently diverted to waste to energy facilities via the University’s hazardous waste contract. Select laboratories divert via TerraCycle.
8) LEAF & YARD WASTE – Composted.
9) KEURIG K-PODS – Are collected in offices across campus in boxes provided by Office Depot for Keurig’s Grounds to Grow on Program. Full boxes are mailed to Keurig’s K-Pod provider, where components are separated; plastic and foil are recycled; and grounds are composted.
10) MATTRESSES –The University of Pittsburgh regularly ensures its mattresses from residence halls and multifamily apartment buildings are diverted from landfill to recycling. From 2018 through 2022, Pitt diverted 1,474 mattresses to recycling or reuse. When 500 dorm mattresses and bed frames were removed in 2021 as part of a residence hall remodeling project, Pitt partnered with local nonprofit Global Links. The beds were cleaned and repurposed and donated to locations in Nicaragua and Honduras that provide expectant mothers a place to rest and heal pre- and postpartum.
11) PHARMACEUTICALS – Are dropped off in controlled campus locations at the Pitt Pharmacy and Pitt Public Safety building. This waste stream is managed by Pitt Environmental Health & Safety – and properly disposed of third-party incineration.
12) TEXTILES – Following collection at locations across campus and pickup by Pitt Logistics, unusable textiles are diverted back into the circular economy by Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
13) TONER & INK CARTRIDGES - After being collected at locations across campus and picked up by Pitt Logistics, these items are recycled with third-party vendors by Pitt Surplus.

Learn more about Pitt’s Zero Waste efforts: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/zerowaste/

The materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion reported above is from the most recent complete data set from CY2022. It is used as an approximation for the performance year FY23. This accurately reflects the amount of chemicals at the University being re-purposed or directed to beneficial reuse.

ACTIVE RECOVERY AND REUSE TOTALS METHODOLOGY
This total was calculated using data from 2023 (Surplus items sold back to campus FY23, Thriftsburgh items CY23, and Rummage Sale items CY23). A surplus item weight was calculated by averaging the weights of a small corkboard, small white board, office chair with wheels, small desk, small coffee table, 3 shelves, and a 2 drawer filing cabinets. Weights for these items were found here: https://your.yale.edu/work-yale/campus-services/eli-surplus-exchange/furniture-weight-approximations
Thriftsburgh item weight was calculated by averaging the weight of a Levi Jean and medium size t-shirt. Sources: https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/the-denim-weight-of-jeans-guide/ and https://www.printful.com/blog/t-shirt-weight-guide#:~:text=up%20your%20choices-,How%20much%20does%20an%20average%20t%2Dshirt%20weigh%3F,roughly%20130%E2%80%93155%20grams .
The weight of a Rummage Sale item was calculated averaging together 1 surplus item and 2 items of Thriftsburgh's clothing to reflect the contents of a standard sale.