Volunteers with the University of New Hampshire’s Trash 2 Treasure program have been rolling rugs and testing televisions all summer long in preparation for their second annual move-in weekend yard sale.  Throughout the month of May 2012, the T2T team collected furniture, clothing, electronics and more from various drop-off points around the UNH campus, and even made special pick-ups at off-campus apartments in the surrounding towns.  The items were cleaned and stored over the summer and will be displayed for sale at the start of the fall semester.

They estimate that the 2011 T2T cycle diverted 57,000 pounds of perfectly usable items from the waste stream, and expect the numbers to be even higher for the 2012 cycle .  T2T is a self-sustaining program; the money made at the yard sale goes toward the costs of storing and cleaning items and running the following year’s sale, and expanding their program’s specific model to other campuses.  The few leftover items are kept in the community—either donated to local churches for their fall sales or to local secondhand shops.  You can get a feel for the entire process from this video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Northeastern University also has a Trash 2 Treasure program, with item collection in the spring and a sale in the fall.  In a unique twist on engaging the student community, all student organizations that volunteer will receive a portion of the sale’s profits, proportional to the number of volunteer hours its members commit; everything else will go to a local charity.

At the University of Texas, the Campus Environmental Center’s T2T profits go toward campus environmental programming such as recycling and energy conservation initiatives.

This back to school season, consider ways to minimize your resource consumption—borrow items from friends and family, buy used, and if you have to buy new, keep your purchases local—it cuts down on fossil fuels used in production and transportation, and, according to a study by the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP), for every $100 spent at a local, independent business, the additional benefit to the community is nearly double that of a purchase of the same amount at a chain.  Buying used usually eliminates the need for plastic and Styrofoam packaging (especially if you bring your own bag!), further eliminating waste.

Trash 2 Treasure programs keep usable items from unnecessarily filling limited landfill space, and prevent the use of fossil fuels in the production, packaging and shipping of new items.

Support your campus community, your home community, and our environment as a whole as you get back into the swing of things!  If your back-to-school list is all checked off, you can still help your local T2T sale by volunteering.  Can you think of any better way to kick off the year?!  And you never know what you’ll find…

Does your campus have a similar back-to-school yard sale?  Leave a comment to let us know!

Here are a few more sales that we know about, as featured in Generation E:  Students Leading for a Sustainble, Clean Energy Future:
• Ohio State Dump and Run
• Suffolk University Dump and Run

Families can mark their trees with a red ribbon and return later to cut them down.

We’d set aside last weekend to do our holiday decorating, so as the weekend approached and the weather forecast was good I suggested to my husband that we check for a local tree farm where we could select and chop down our own Christmas tree.

We’ve often bought cut trees from local vendors, but I can’t say for sure the trees themselves were local. I’m a big supporter of buying my food local, straight from the farmer so it only made sense that I should take that next step and buy my tree straight from a local farmer, too.

Although it was our first time cutting our own tree it won’t be our last. The kids had a ball wandering the land in search of the perfect tree for our family. Inevitably we’d find “the one” only to find that it was already claimed by another family, shown by a red ribbon tied on it.

"The one" at Blue Heron Tree Farm in Centreville, MD.

Beyond the fun we had, I feel good about our choice because during their growing cycle these trees provide oxygen, as well as habitat for many types of wildlife. Also the leftover tree can be recycled to mulch or left as a snag, a dead tree that provides habitat for wildlife.

We also supported local farmers Harriet and Ed Caporin, owners of Blue Heron Tree Farm. Buying local helps our economy and, in cases like this, it keeps the land as a productive farm versus over-developed.

Outdoor fun. Adventure. Shopping local. The smell of a fresh cut tree. If any or all of things lure you to buy a local Christmas tree, you can find a farmer near you by searching the National Christmas Tree Association directory.

‘Tis the Season from the National Wildlife Federation:

• 5 Gifts Birds Are “Tweeting” About This Holiday Season
• This Year, Shift Your Gift Into a Gift For Wildlife
• Reindeer: 12 Fascinating Facts About These Amazing Creatures
• Simple Holiday Crafts to Make With Your Kids
• Habitat Certification and Other Gifts for Gardeners
• The Northern Cardinal: Find Out About the Bird That Most Symbolizes the Season