This May, the Department of Resident Life completed their 6th annual Trash to Treasure campaign. The program provides University of Maryland students the opportunity to donate unwanted, gently used items to Goodwill during spring move out. During this year’s efforts, a total of 11,520 pounds of goods were collected for donation.
“The Trash to Treasure program is a great example of campus collaboration,” said Tracy Kiras, assistant director for communications and marketing, Department of Resident Life. “We are grateful to the departments who assist us in ensuring the success of this program. It is rewarding to know how much good this program is doing to help students and the local community while diverting new and gently used items from the waste stream.”
Also, new to this year’s Trash to Treasure was a used textbook collection, sponsored by the University Libraries. Over 200 books were donated at 13 different collection sites.
"Trash to Treasure provided the visibility and mechanism essential for this first textbook collection effort," said Eric Bartheld, director of communications, University Libraries. "Students could easily donate textbooks to grow our textbook loan program."
Central to the theme of Trash to Treasure is placing an emphasis on recycling and ensuring items do not go to waste in the landfill. Two of the most commonly recycled items were electronics and carpets. A total of four 40-foot containers were filled with electronics, mostly comprised of television sets. An estimated 4.36 tons of carpet was recycled.
"It was another very successful year for the Trash to Treasure program,” said Adrienne Small, recycling coordinator, Facilities Management. “We are appreciative to everyone involved in the program and to those who took the time to separate their move-out waste to be donated and recycled."
Trash to Treasure also ensures that food does not go to waste at UMD. The Campus Pantry collected 690 items to add to their shelves to provide food for those in need at the university.
Overall, through the partnership with Goodwill, the donations provided approximately 355 hours of free job training and education programs for individuals with disabilities and disadvantages in our community.
“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Maryland on another successful Trash to Treasure program,” said Brendan Hurley, chief marketing officer, Goodwill. “We appreciate their continued support of our programs through the tremendous amount of donations collected as they continue to focus on crucial sustainability initiatives in our community.”