The Best Cost-Saving Idea To Come Out Of College In Ages

When I was at college, a friend of mine, who went to another small liberal arts school nearby, told me that it was an annual underclass(wo)men tradition to go Dumpster diving when the seniors left and reclaim everything from discarded furniture to functional televisions. Well, some enterprising, think-big type University of New Hampshire students have taken that idea and standardized / monetized it:

Every year, millions of college students in the U.S. pack up and head off campus, leaving tons (literally) of stuff behind. And only a small fraction of it really belongs in a dumpster. So Alex and a group of his friends at the University of New Hampshire started a campus organization called Trash2Treasure.

Here’s how it works: They collect usable dumpster-bound items during move out in May. They put everything in storage over the summer. And then — here’s the kicker — they sell it all back to the students the next fall at a yard sale. How genius is that? Better yet, the money they make from the move-in sale cycles back into the program, allowing them to run it again the next year, too.

The students, led by Alex Freid, have continued to scale the waste-reduction program and build upon its momentum with, among other initiatives, a nearly fully-funded $10,000 Indiegogo campaign:

The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) is a nonprofit, cooperative network of student leaders working to achieve zero waste in their campus communities. We support the implementation of practical waste-reduction initiatives, educate students about the waste crisis, and help train the next generation of leaders for the zero waste movement. Our goal is to create zero waste campuses that lead the way to a zero waste world where landfills and incinerators are obsolete.

Aw, and Trash2Treasure has even spread to my alma mater! That’s awesome. It would have been great to be able to get someone else’s second-hand box fan and mini fridge instead of having to get them new from the College Bookstore. I don’t think I would have benefited too much from the program myself, though: I lived in dorms three out of my four years at school and didn’t have to bring much or, when I left, throw much away. The stackable wire bins and my bean bag chair accompanied me to my first apartment in New York.

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