A Chance to Find Treasure in Someone Else's Trash
MU is hosting the first end-of-school-year Tiger Treasures Rummage Sale
May 15, 2007
Story Contact: Christian Basi, 573-882-4430, BasiC@missouri.edu
COLUMBIA, Mo. — One person's trash is another person's tiger treasure. As someone moves, what may seem harmless to throw away can be harmful to the environment. Each year, an estimated 30-plus tons of usable goods, including electronics, clothing, appliances, furniture, athletic equipment and more are discarded by nearly 6,000 University of Missouri-Columbia residence hall students departing for home, summer jobs and new careers. This year, however, the goods are going to be recycled in the first end-of-school-year Mizzou Tiger Treasures Rummage Sale.
The Rummage Sale will be held 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, June 2, at the east side of Memorial Stadium. Early birds can pay $5 for admission at 6 a.m. and receive first dibs on the goods. The proceeds of the Tiger Treasures Rummage Sale will go to the Salvation Army. Organizers also are collecting usable unopened, packaged food for the Central Missouri Food Bank. “Media Day,” a sorting-and-pricing open house, will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, May 16. Local media are invited to attend.
“The sale will not only benefit charitable causes and provide hundreds of pounds for the local food bank, but its recycling will be environmentally beneficial in MU's sustainability efforts,” said Phil Shocklee, Campus Facilities' associate director of communications and chair of MU's recycling committee.
MU Campus Facilities, Residential Life and Intercollegiate Athletics organized the event with support from the student group, Sustain Mizzou, to continue the University's 20-year effort of conservation and sustainability.
Another conservation and sustainability effort by the University is the Tiger Tailgating project. It began in 2005 with a collaborative effort between MU and Anheuser-Bush Recycling to collect beverage containers at MU home football games throughout the season. Last year, the project collected nearly 20 tons of recyclable containers.
Another 2,000 tons of recyclable materials are collected annually from campus commercial-type operations, residence halls, Brady Commons and Memorial Union, and academic and administrative buildings on campus. The recycling rate for the campus is nearly 25 percent. Plans are being explored to compost much of the livestock bedding from the College of Veterinary Medicine and food waste from dining facilities.
The Rummage Sale sponsors are the Salvation Army, City of Columbia, United Way, the Columbia Daily Tribune, KOMU-TV, Mid-Missouri the CW, KCLR/Clear 99, Y-107 and KCMQ/The Rocker radio.