Waste Not! was started at Wesleyan last year by myself and Alex Provo '10 in order to provide a way for students to donate unwanted items at the end of the semester. The year before, Wesleyan's Environmental Organizers' Network (EON) sponsored a similar program, Westuff. We decided to rename and revamp the program because... c'mon who needs another Wes- anything at Wesleyan?! We also made some major changes to the way the program was coordinated and organized. We managed to secure the Student Groups Building, 190 High Street, and the former University Organizing Center, at 162 Church, to use as storage spaces over the summer.

Alex came to the Waste Not! program from EON and will act as Wesleyan brand-new Sustainability Intern this year. I was not a member of EON, but I first proposed starting a donation and resale program to the organization three years ago after seeing the incredible, unnecessary waste that occurs each year as students evacuate campus at the end of Finals Week. Working with EON was great and I appreciate all the support they gave the program and the student volunteers who helped collect and organize the donations. Lastly, it's great to see the program up and running, with its own website, volunteers, and institutional support. I encourage students to volunteer at the end of the Spring semester next year!

From the Waste Not! website: 

Waste Not! is an EON-sponsored effort to reduce unnecessary waste and encourage items to be recycled from year to year.

At the end of the school year, EON collects your unwanted items. Then, in the fall, we hold a HUGE tag sale to sell those items back to the community, thereby keeping valuable items out of the landfill and in circulation. Proceeds from the sale go to Amazing Grace (St. Vincent DePaul's food pantry) and the CT River Watch Program's CT River Coastal Conservation District.

Read more about Waste Not! at: 

http://www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/eon/wastenot/

Check out EON at: 

http://www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/eon/