Student-run effort will turn trash into treasure for a local agency

Lauren Jacobs '05, Dump & Run program coordinator at Cornell, is preparing for the program's collection period, between May 5 and 17. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

By Robert Sullivan III '04

Cornell's trash load will be a bit lighter this year, and a local food relief agency will benefit. In an effort to reduce the amount of discarded items generated by students moving out at the end of the school year, the local branch of a national nonprofit known as Dump & Run will place collection boxes around campus to collect reusable items that would normally be thrown out. During Orientation Week at the beginning of the fall semester, the recycled items will be sold to entering students for reduced prices, with the profits going to a downtown Ithaca soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes.

Dump and Run has been selected as the annual philanthropy event for the Campus Life Student Advisory Committee. Lauren Jacobs '05, a member of the committee and Dump & Run program coordinator at Cornell, said: "Dump and Run is a win-win situation for all parties involved. It will reduce waste, cut university costs, provide inexpensive usable goods for community members and students, and it will raise thousands of dollars for a needy local organization."

Many perfectly reusable items are left behind or thrown out by students in their rush to leave campus each year. It was reported in the Boston Globe two years ago that Harvard University cleanup crews found an $800 Neiman Marcus evening gown in the trash and a fully assembled V8 engine in a fireplace. But much more regularly, students leave TVs, refrigerators and clothes that they aren't able to take with them for various reasons. Tufts University reports that during April and May students throw away 50 tons more waste than usual.

Lisa Heller first instituted the program at the University of Richmond in 2000. Explaining the success of the program, Heller said, "People pay attention if you show them that when you're throwing [reusable] things away, in essence you're throwing away money." From Heller's vision, Dump & Run has spread to 13 colleges and universities nationwide, including Cornell. Articles promoting the success of the program have appeared in The New York Times, People magazine and the Boston Globe.

The Cornell Dump & Run program will collect items between May 5 and 17 on campus. Collection boxes will be placed around residence halls, fraternities and sororities. In the past, students have donated clothing, electronics, books, sporting goods and office supplies.

The items are sorted, priced and stored for the summer until August, when freshmen arrive for Orientation. For that time, Dump & Run organizers are planning two sales of donated items. Cornell Facilities Management, Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council, Cornell Community Development and the Campus Life Student Advisory Committee are all supporting the Dump & Run effort.

Organizers are optimistic about the success of the program, given the results from other colleges. "At Bowdoin, a school one-sixth the size of Cornell, the Dump & Run sale raised $12,000, the most profitable sale in the program's history," said Jacobs. "At Cornell, I am hoping for sales this year to at least double that figure."

The program also is likely to yield environmental benefits for the Ithaca area by reducing the pressure on Ithaca's landfills.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the Dump & Run volunteer coordinator, Janelle Weinstock, by e-mail at jww34@cornell.edu. All volunteers will receive a free Dump & Run T-shirt and a discount at the fall sale. More information on Dump & Run is available at http://www.dumpandrun.org.