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VIDEO: Waste Not, want not
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 19:28
At the end of the school year, student move-out can be rushed, and often students leave behind or throw away many useful dorm items.
At Wesleyan University, a program called Waste Not is committed to making the end of the school year more environmentally friendly. Waste Not volunteers collect items -- including televisions, refrigerators, lamps, clothing, non-perishable food items, sheets and blankets -- from designated areas in each residence on campus. After collection, Waste Not organizes these items and prepares them to be sold at the beginning of the following school year.
The work is substantial and rewarding. I couldn't believe the number of items collected! Take a look at the video above to see how amazingly productive a collection program like Waste Not can be!

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How many volunteers did you have? I'm impressed at how many items you collected! I hope more schools and neighborhoods can do something like that!
We have something called freecycle around here, where people can post items online that they want to get rid of, or items that they are looking for. Nothing is sold, (so it does not benefit charity), but it's a great way to implement the first "R" of producing less waste: Reuse
We had 80 volunteers sign up and a great turn out in the end. Probably about 25-30 people came daily. Posting items online is a great idea! Posting items online after collection would be really helpful too. That way people can know what they need to buy off-campus, versus what they can get in Waste Not's fall sale.