College move-out junk removal in Providence

The short answer

If you are leaving an off-campus apartment near Brown, RISD, Providence College or Johnson & Wales, book a pickup a few days before your lease ends. Typical student items: twin mattress $82, full mattress $94, futon $111, desk $83, mini fridge $115, TV $62 for under 42 inches, bookshelf $72. Items are carried out from any floor, with no stairs fee. The minimum order is $100, so roommates often book together.

Why mid-May is different in Providence

Providence has an unusual number of colleges for its size. Brown University has been in the city since 1770, and RISD sits beside it on College Hill. Providence College is in the North End, around Elmhurst and Mount Pleasant. Johnson & Wales has students Downtown. Rhode Island College is in the city too, and the University of Rhode Island's campus village is Kingston, to the south.

When the spring term ends in mid-May, a large share of off-campus apartments in College Hill, Fox Point, Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant, Smith Hill and Downtown turn over within a couple of weeks. Every porch has a mattress on it. Every curb has a futon.

The city's options are stretched in those weeks. The free bulky pickup depends on your trash day and building size and excludes mattresses. The DPW mattress drop-off runs Saturday mornings only, two per visit with a Providence ID. Many students do not have a car at all.

What students usually leave behind

Mini fridges contain refrigerant, and TVs are e-waste, which Rhode Island bans from the trash. Neither can just go in the bin on the way out.

Splitting it between roommates

The $100 minimum applies per order, so a single student with one twin mattress at $82 pays $100. Booking together with roommates makes the math better, because each item is then charged at its list price.

Some typical shared-house examples:

• Three roommates in Fox Point, three twin mattresses: $82 + $82 + $82 = $246, or $82 each.
• Two roommates near Providence College, a futon, two desks and a mini fridge: $111 + $83 + $83 + $115 = $392.
• One student on College Hill, full mattress, bed frame and bookshelf: $94 + $68 + $72 = $234.

You see the total before booking, so it is easy to agree on a split in the group chat first.

Timing it with your lease

Book the pickup for a few days before your lease end date, not the last morning. The last day is when you are cleaning, returning keys and trying to get to the airport or the train. A pickup a day or two earlier gives you an empty room to clean.

You choose a two-hour arrival window, and crews work seven days a week from 8am to midnight, so an evening after finals works. Same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM, which helps if plans change.

If you are storing things over the summer instead, think hard about what is worth storing. A twin mattress from a student apartment is rarely worth a summer of storage rent. See storage unit cleanout costs for what clearing a unit costs later.

Selling and giving away first

Late August is the best time to sell student furniture, when new students arrive and furnish apartments. Mid-May is the worst, because everyone is selling the same desks and bookcases at once.

If you have something good, such as a newer desk, a solid bookshelf or a lamp, try a free listing early in May, before the rush. Be honest about the floor and the stairs. If nobody comes within a few days, move on.

Mattresses, worn futons and cheap particleboard furniture rarely find takers. Plan to have those removed. When JunkRabbit picks up, we try to donate usable items when local charities accept them, and we recycle whatever we can.

Landlords near the campuses

For landlords with student rentals, May is the busiest turnover month of the year. Units on College Hill, in Fox Point, around Providence College and Downtown all empty at once, and the next tenants often arrive in late August or sooner.

Tenants leave behind more than furniture: bags of trash, broken lamps, TVs, mini fridges and things in the basement. Book turnovers early, and use truck-fill tiers for heavier units. A quarter truck is $241 and half a truck $431. Property managers can set up an account covering several properties. See landlord turnover cleanouts.

Beyond Providence

The same move-out wave hits other campuses in the service area, including URI in Kingston and UMass Dartmouth next to New Bedford. Students in those towns get the same flat prices and the same carry-out from any floor.

Wherever you are, the order is the same: decide what is not coming, sell or give away anything good early, and book the pickup before your last day. Upload a photo of your room through the instant quote to see the total in a minute.

Frequently asked questions