Reuse and recycle

Organizers of this year's Dump and Run event include students and staff (l - r): Matthew Duffy, Dalhousie MBA student; Heather Boudreau, Saint Mary's University Bachelor of Science student, this year's chief event organizer; Nils Varga, Dalhousie Security Services; and Kable Frank, Dalhousie Bachelor of Management student (Frank photo).

Old furniture cluttering up the basement? Cleaning out the closet for spring? Got some time to volunteer to help a growing community event?

If the answer to any of the above is "yes," circle your calendar for Sunday, April 29, the date for this year's annual Dump and Run. The waste diversion event and community garage sale has grown in popularity and is becoming something of a spring ritual for many people - something they look forward to like the first flowers that bloom or the spotting of a robin on the front lawn.

This spring event, organized by Dalhousie, SMU and Kings students, has a double focus: reduce end-of-term solid waste left by students and raise money for charity. It is a clever way to recycle. Students and other community members send their castoff items to the sale. Other students and the public buy them.

For years, residents on the peninsula have complained about the number of sofas, mattresses and other items left on the sidewalks when students move out in April. While the Dump and Run does not pretend to cure all those woes, last year it sold 20,000 pounds of materials - that's 21 sofas, 13 desks, 21 chairs, 14 mattresses, five bed frames, 25 boxes of kitchen supplies, 47 small appliances, 10 televisions, seven microwaves, 20 computer printers and 75 bags of clothes that did not go to the landfill.

Organized by students of the Society for Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility,  the April 29 sale will be held for the first time in two locations - the Studley Gym and the Student Union Building on the upper Dalhousie campus.

The Studley Gym will open at 8 a.m. It will feature furniture and other household items. Clothes, some of which are collected from the residences when students leave, will be for sale in the McInnis Room of the SUB. That sale will begin at 10 a.m.

"The Dump and Run is a great success as a community event," says chief event organizer Heather Boudreau of SMU. "As more people participate and get to know about the sale, we need more room."

"We are very grateful this year to the Dalhousie Student Union for the use of the McInnis Room. That will really let us organize and display everything to much better advantage."
In 2005, the Dump and Run raised $9,000. Last year, it raised $14,000. Boudreau and other organizers are hoping to top that amount this year.

The Dump and Run is also looking for volunteers - students and neighbours of all ages - to help run the 2007 event. As the event grows, there is a particular need for vehicles such as small trucks or vans that can pick up sofas, beds and other larger items. This occurs several days before the sale. There is also a need for volunteers to help sort and tag for sale the myriad of items that arrive at Studley Gym before the event. 

If you have items in good condition for resale, or you have some time to help volunteer, please contact the Dump and Run Committee at halifaxdumpandrun@hotmail.com or phone 902-494-6899.