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A non-exhaustive list of trash Penn students left on the streets of Philadelphia

As students move out for the year, it’s “Penn Christmas” — or trash apocalypse.

A large pile of trash on 42nd Street near the University of Pennsylvania campus on Tuesday. After the university's graduation, piles of furniture and garbage often appear near off-campus housing as students move out.
A large pile of trash on 42nd Street near the University of Pennsylvania campus on Tuesday. After the university's graduation, piles of furniture and garbage often appear near off-campus housing as students move out.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

When University of Pennsylvania students evacuate their off-campus housing each spring, looking forward to bright summers and brighter futures, one thing stays behind on the streets of Philadelphia: their junk. This season in West Philly is sometimes called “Penn Christmas” because of the potential hidden treasures buried in the trash; it’s seen by others as pure disaster.

In honor of this annual event, we compiled a non-exhaustive list of the detritus we observed on four city blocks surrounding Penn’s campus after the move-out this year. (Penn’s commencement was May 15, so there were not many treasures left):

  1. a folded-up yellow beach chair

  2. an inhaler

  3. five pink plastic shot glasses

  4. a roll of blue streamers

  5. a half-used tube of toothpaste

  6. a box of Franzia Crisp White wine

  7. a box of Barefoot on Tap moscato wine

  8. a brown leather couch

  9. an empty Nike Air Force 1 shoebox

  10. a broken water pitcher

  11. pink leopard-print shorts

  12. a Post-it note for “Kelsey laundry stuff”

  13. two green pillowcases

  14. an unopened bag of Trader Joe’s vegetable fried rice


  16. a prescription bottle for 1,000 mg of Vitamin B

  17. a strand of fake ivy

  18. a muffin tin

  19. one silver high heel

  20. a four-drawer white dresser

  21. a ball of brown hair

  22. an unopened package of bacon

  23. a page of notes on “Intermediate Filaments”

  24. three pillows

  25. a white board that said “Have Fun!” in blue block letters

  26. 1 lb., 14 oz. of performance protein powder

  27. a gray bed frame

  28. the top of a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner

  29. a white Sovereign Plush mattress

  30. an empty iPad box

  31. a metallic gold tablecloth

  32. a bouquet of dried baby’s breath in a chardonnay bottle

  33. a gray knit hat

  34. an empty Chanel box

  35. a postcard that said “You are more than enough” (“printed in Poland for Ikea”)