By Molly McCoy
Staff Columnist
DURHAM—
Moving in and out of college: parents and students know this ordeal very well. Lines of people and cars fill the streets outside dormitories and campus apartments in the spring and fall, everyone waiting for the next free elevator or someone to hold the door as they trudge out with boxes and bags of clothing, school supplies, furniture, and who knows what else. Trash and discarded belongings also fill the streets, as those multicolored halogen lamps lose their appeal and extra-long bedding becomes unnecessary. However at the University of New Hampshire, one student group is hoping to lighten the load.
The UNH Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) is the local chapter of a national nonprofit network of student- and youth-run organizations, all of which, according to the SEAC website, work to “uproot environmental injustices through action and education.” The UNH group sponsors a number of grassroots initiatives on campus, organizing sustainability outreach efforts like composting and the University use of recycled paper, along with educational events like guest speakers and movie series. This year, the UNH SEAC has taken on a new campaign called “Trash 2 Treasure.”
“Last year, I was looking at moving into an apartment and I drove around looking for free furniture on the street,” said Alex Freid, a sophomore at UNH and involved member of SEAC. “It was completely overwhelming. The amount of stuff leftover and thrown out was insane. We started having discussions about it.”
The rest of the group’s members, numbering around fifty, agreed with Freid’s concerns and brainstormed what they could do to help, ultimately resulting in the “Trash 2 Treasure” program (T2T). The group is organizing a collection of “stuff” throughout campus during the annual student move-out this spring. Items that can be donated include televisions, DVD players, desks, tables, lamps, microwaves, dorm-size refrigerators, floor rugs, printers, cleaning supplies and clothing, to name a few. In the fall, the group will hold a large, 3-day yard sale during move-in weekend to sell the items back to students at a reasonable price. Any leftover items will then be donated to local charities and thrift shops.
“UNH sees an average of 25 tons of trash a month during the regular school year,” said Freid, “and that number jumps to 105 tons of trash during move-out in May. And that’s just the on-campus stuff, not including all the other student housing.”
According to Freid, the UNH SEAC officially established the T2T program last year, making it the only student-led, student-run initiative of its kind in the country. The group has since organized and applied for seed-money grants, the payoff of which has included a $4,000 grant from the UNH Parents’ Association and other smaller donations.
The hope is that the program will essentially fund itself after this year with the profits from the fall sale, but how much startup cash does the group really need?
“We started with a basic, small scale proposal of the program estimated at about $6,000,” said Freid. “We’ve come much farther from that now. We’ve managed to get donated storage space from apartment owners in Durham and a rec. room in a dorm basement, but we’re still working on getting more space. If we collect as much as we possibly can, we’ll probably need twice as much storage as we’ve secured so far.”
The group is working hard to plan all aspects of the campaign, but they are constantly up against a Catch-22.
“The more storage we have, the more money we need for the trucks, the yard sale tent, and other things. It’s like a ripple effect,” said Freid. “If something expands, we have to spend more money on something else. We’re pretty much going for as much [stuff collected] as we can, which would hopefully turn into revenue for next year. We’ve been playing with these numbers for months and we just won’t know until we do it.”
In an effort to raise additional funds, the UNH SEAC is hosting a Banquet Fundraising Event on Sunday, April 10 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the Granite State Room of the Memorial Union Building at UNH, located at 83 Main Street in Durham. The event includes hors d’oeuvres donated from a number of area restaurants, guest speakers, a 15-minute clip screening of Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff,” and a silent auction of over $5,000 worth of donated goods from local environmentally friendly businesses.
“We don’t expect to make back the whole $5,000, but it’s definitely a start!” said Freid.
There is a suggested donation of $10 per person to attend, but the event is free to anyone who wishes to be a part of the evening’s festivities.
Oh, and all of this organizational time and effort is in addition to schoolwork, right?
“I’m very, very busy,” said Freid, “but I guess it’s just a matter of commitment. We really want to make this happen.”
To learn more about the Trash 2 Treasure campaign and the upcoming Banquet Fundraiser Event, visit www.unh.edu/trash2treasure or find the program on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unhtrash2treasure.
Photo caption: The UNH Student Environmental Action Coalition will host a Gala Fundraiser Event on Sunday, April 10 to benefit their Trash 2 Treasure program. (Courtesy image)
Staff Columnist
DURHAM—
Moving in and out of college: parents and students know this ordeal very well. Lines of people and cars fill the streets outside dormitories and campus apartments in the spring and fall, everyone waiting for the next free elevator or someone to hold the door as they trudge out with boxes and bags of clothing, school supplies, furniture, and who knows what else. Trash and discarded belongings also fill the streets, as those multicolored halogen lamps lose their appeal and extra-long bedding becomes unnecessary. However at the University of New Hampshire, one student group is hoping to lighten the load.
The UNH Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) is the local chapter of a national nonprofit network of student- and youth-run organizations, all of which, according to the SEAC website, work to “uproot environmental injustices through action and education.” The UNH group sponsors a number of grassroots initiatives on campus, organizing sustainability outreach efforts like composting and the University use of recycled paper, along with educational events like guest speakers and movie series. This year, the UNH SEAC has taken on a new campaign called “Trash 2 Treasure.”
“Last year, I was looking at moving into an apartment and I drove around looking for free furniture on the street,” said Alex Freid, a sophomore at UNH and involved member of SEAC. “It was completely overwhelming. The amount of stuff leftover and thrown out was insane. We started having discussions about it.”
The rest of the group’s members, numbering around fifty, agreed with Freid’s concerns and brainstormed what they could do to help, ultimately resulting in the “Trash 2 Treasure” program (T2T). The group is organizing a collection of “stuff” throughout campus during the annual student move-out this spring. Items that can be donated include televisions, DVD players, desks, tables, lamps, microwaves, dorm-size refrigerators, floor rugs, printers, cleaning supplies and clothing, to name a few. In the fall, the group will hold a large, 3-day yard sale during move-in weekend to sell the items back to students at a reasonable price. Any leftover items will then be donated to local charities and thrift shops.
“UNH sees an average of 25 tons of trash a month during the regular school year,” said Freid, “and that number jumps to 105 tons of trash during move-out in May. And that’s just the on-campus stuff, not including all the other student housing.”
According to Freid, the UNH SEAC officially established the T2T program last year, making it the only student-led, student-run initiative of its kind in the country. The group has since organized and applied for seed-money grants, the payoff of which has included a $4,000 grant from the UNH Parents’ Association and other smaller donations.
The hope is that the program will essentially fund itself after this year with the profits from the fall sale, but how much startup cash does the group really need?
“We started with a basic, small scale proposal of the program estimated at about $6,000,” said Freid. “We’ve come much farther from that now. We’ve managed to get donated storage space from apartment owners in Durham and a rec. room in a dorm basement, but we’re still working on getting more space. If we collect as much as we possibly can, we’ll probably need twice as much storage as we’ve secured so far.”
The group is working hard to plan all aspects of the campaign, but they are constantly up against a Catch-22.
“The more storage we have, the more money we need for the trucks, the yard sale tent, and other things. It’s like a ripple effect,” said Freid. “If something expands, we have to spend more money on something else. We’re pretty much going for as much [stuff collected] as we can, which would hopefully turn into revenue for next year. We’ve been playing with these numbers for months and we just won’t know until we do it.”
In an effort to raise additional funds, the UNH SEAC is hosting a Banquet Fundraising Event on Sunday, April 10 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the Granite State Room of the Memorial Union Building at UNH, located at 83 Main Street in Durham. The event includes hors d’oeuvres donated from a number of area restaurants, guest speakers, a 15-minute clip screening of Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff,” and a silent auction of over $5,000 worth of donated goods from local environmentally friendly businesses.
“We don’t expect to make back the whole $5,000, but it’s definitely a start!” said Freid.
There is a suggested donation of $10 per person to attend, but the event is free to anyone who wishes to be a part of the evening’s festivities.
Oh, and all of this organizational time and effort is in addition to schoolwork, right?
“I’m very, very busy,” said Freid, “but I guess it’s just a matter of commitment. We really want to make this happen.”
To learn more about the Trash 2 Treasure campaign and the upcoming Banquet Fundraiser Event, visit www.unh.edu/trash2treasure or find the program on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unhtrash2treasure.
Photo caption: The UNH Student Environmental Action Coalition will host a Gala Fundraiser Event on Sunday, April 10 to benefit their Trash 2 Treasure program. (Courtesy image)
