No Yard Sale 2010

In need of school supplies? Here are a few alternative options for local affordable shopping:

Please be aware that Harvard University runs several yard sales during the same time period as move-in. Click here to read more about them. This year the Harvard Habitat for Humanity student run sale will occur on the lawn at 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, from 9 AM - 5 PM on these dates:

Thursday 8-26-10

Friday      8-27-10

Saturday   8-28-10

Sunday     8-29-10

Monday   8-30-10

Tuesday   8-31-10

Saturday   9-4-10

Sunday     9-5-10

 

Tuftslife.com is a popular student run website which contains classified advertisements.

Craigslist.com is known by many. Less well know is freecycle.com.

Two thrift stores are located close to Tufts. GoodWill Industries is located at 230 Elm Street in Davis Square Somerville. The closest Salvation Army is at 483 Broadway in Somerville.

Why was the Jumbo Drop yard sale canceled?

There are many reasons why the sale is canceled. Here is a short list:

-The costs to collect items, sort, store and move them, and then to sell them at a yard sale are much more than the revenue collected at the sale.

-Although the sale is open to the community, many customers are from the dorm. Inevitably students come across items that are restricted from dorm rooms. Tufts is very diligent about fire safety but it would be impossible for the small JD crew to sort out such things prior to the sale.

-Sorting areas and secure storage at Tufts is very difficult to find. Most years we must find a new location, which is not easy. Often these areas are not secure from troublemakers or the elements. Typically some JD things are compromised by rainwater or intruders during the summer.

-A yard sale location is also hard to secure during the many activities held for matriculation and move-in. Usually we use a parking lot for two days which causes stress on the people who need to park on campus.

-Many broken items remain at the end of the sale. This causes another round of sorting and logistics. Part of this may be from lower demand due to the fact that Tufts now organizes logistics and transportation to a local Target store for new students. We always recommend considering used goods first but the JD sale does not always have what everyone needs and some people want newer things.

Dawn Quirk, the Recycling Coordinator would be happy to elaborate on this list. If you want more information, she can be reached at dawn.quirk@tufts.edu or 73810.

What's Next?

Tufts Recycles! is a huge advocate of the two Rs: reduce and reuse. That is why we are starting a project named R²epack [Reuse. Recycle Everything. Pack and Clean...'K!?]. The project encourages outgoing students to leave their rooms clean, just as they found them, to properly dispose of waste, and to value their belongings by conserving and reusing them. What about good stuff that is genuinely outgrown? This is an important point that we have started to address. Keeping in mind the logistical obstacles that doomed Jumbo Drop, finding a new way means we need to keep it simple and sustainable by minimizing sorting labor and transport/storage logistics. A possible solution is to have a one-time, on site “freecycle” event. Lewis Hall was a test case for such a project this past May. A “freecycle” box was put out for students to donate specific items that would be offered free to returning Lewis residents. The box did not result in many donations, but we do have about 10 boxes of stuff to be given away when everyone moves back in.

Although this year’s project is a Lewis Hall only initiative, a secure storage area has been identified in Carmichael and South. If students adhere to the donation guidelines (no trashy stuff or clothes please!) and everyone is civil during the give-away this year, we will experiment with adding in South and Carmichael next year.

We would love your feedback or new ideas! Please contact dawn.quirk@tufts.edu or 73810.

 

Pictures of the collection action 2003-2008

On To The Next Stop	Fun Stuff!	Lunch Time
Where To Start?!	Smile!	Everyone Helps Out
Bad Idea! Don't trash it-donate!	Waiting For a Ride	On To The Next Stop 2

Tufts Recycles!
Dawn Quirk, Recycling Coordinator
617/627-3810
recycle@tufts.edu