Few residence room luxuries are as coveted as the mighty mini-fridge 鈥� and when it's free of charge, well, you'd better get in line as hundreds of students did at Dal's first-ever Free Store event last Friday (Aug. 30).
Students could be seen popping their heads out of line to count where they were compared to the 25 fridges on the floor. But it was more than just fridges up for grabs, it was kitchenware, household items, school supplies and much more.
Students browse a selection of electronics.
Students lined up for their turn to shop.
Planning and coordination for the Free Store has been underway for months. Items were collected from students during residence move out last April and from faculty, staff and additional groups across campus such as the Dal Bookstore during a summer donation drive. A total of 3.5 tonnes of items were collected and diverted from landfill.听
鈥淎s someone who is coming from out of province and can鈥檛 bring a ton on the plane, it was great to be able to grab things like a [full length] mirror. It鈥檚 also so easy and accessible on campus,鈥� said Sophia Russell, a second-year student in Dal鈥檚 Law, Justice and Society program.听
Students could pick out three items each. Among the most popular were kettles, fans, shoe racks, laundry baskets, hangers and power bars. Altogether, the items had an estimated resale value of $10,000.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited to facilitate all of these items being available to students for free,鈥� said Alexa Goodman, Dalhousie鈥檚 sustainability manager. 鈥淭his week is also about showing proof of concept. We want to keep hosting in the future 鈥� year-round if we can find the space. There are many opportunities to reuse items bound for landfills, and programs like the Free Store and Dal Surplus Materials makes it possible to create a circular economy at Dal.鈥澨�
From left to right: Amy Dolland, Alexa Goodman and Stella Eusebius Okoro from Dalhousie's Office of Sustainability.听
The Free Store program鈥檚 initial objectives were to divert one tonne of goods from the waste stream and serve 200 visitors during the pop-up, both of which were achieved and surpassed with 3.5 tonnes and more than 700 visitors.听
The Free Store was open daily until Sunday (Sept. 1) when supplies ran out. For more information, visit the (login required)
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