Coordinated Furniture Pick-Up Pilot

Why We did This

Bostonians, uniquely so, begin a majority of their leases on the same day. Reportedly, about 70 percent of Boston leases start on September 1 due to the large number of people moving at the start of each school year. With this citywide move each year, many people curb lightly used furniture and supplies. Apartment buildings place dumpsters outside in preparation for September. Garbage collection increases during those days as the City tries to keep up with the volume of discarded furniture. The amount of refuse is so unprecedented that locals colloquially call the week, “Allston Christmas." This is an allusion to one of the most popular neighborhoods in Boston, where Bostonians flock to pick up free roadside furniture as they move into their new apartments. 

Much of the furniture, however, does not find a new home and instead goes to a landfill. According to findings from a research partnership between the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) graduate students, overall annual trash collection increased by 10 percent between 2015 and 2023. However, the tonnage for August and September alone increased by nearly 30 percent over the same period. As such, there is an opportunity to pilot coordinated pick-up in hotspot neighborhoods where furniture is most likely to be discarded. Coordinated pick-up can:

• reduce the amount of furniture going into landfills
• establish a sustainable city-wide furniture recycling practice, and
• provide needed furniture to service providers who work to transition unhoused individuals to stable housing.

What We did

To mitigate this issue, MONUM undertook a coordinated furniture pick-up pilot to test a path toward sustainable furniture recycling and reuse. We're partnering with:

• furniture banks
• City departments, and
• the public to reduce the amount of furniture in good condition going to the landfill.

To do this, we provided furniture banks with the opportunity to coordinate pickups with residents. Our partner furniture bank, Household Goods, coordinated the pickup effort, with MONUM supporting communications and resident pickup requests. 

how we did it

Lessons Learned

We hoped to learn:

1. the amount of labor and time it takes
2. how much furniture was diverted from the landfill
3. how much furniture in good condition that furniture banks were able to pick up, and
4. whether coordinated furniture pick-up is scalable.

What we learned:

• Households Approved: A total of 26 out of 38 households that submitted furniture pick-up request forms were approved for furniture pick-up. 
• Furniture Collected: A total of 54 out of 55 furniture items approved for pick-up were successfully collected on the designated pilot day.
• Resident Feedback: Residents rated the helpfulness of the program at 4.62 out of 5, while the ease of participation received a rating of 4.77 out of 5. Additionally, 92.3% of residents indicated that they would recommend this service to a friend or neighbor if it were expanded.
• Pick-Up Timing: Pick-ups across all households averaged about 8 minutes, and all pick-ups were complete between 10 am and 12 pm. 

Resident Feedback:

“I think this program was great and I  really hope the City expands it and makes it permanent. It’s fine to offer stuff for free online or leave it on the curb. However, this ensures the benefit is realized. Thanks!”  

“Thank you so much for running this program! I’m so happy the furniture can find a new home! I really hope this program can be continued and expanded as the city is able. Thaddeus was very easy to work with as well!”

“Awesome! Well coordinated! Great that items went to people with a need!!!”

Check out our video explaining the pilot: Coordinated Furniture Pick-Up Pilot