The large, outdoor event, now in its second year, is proving to be such a success, in fact, that besides providing gently used items at reasonable prices and keeping Newark streets free of cast-off sofas, it's also adding oomph to UD's push toward sustainability.
“I think the whole program is tremendous,” said UD President Patrick Harker, who helped staff the tent sale on Thursday morning, June 5. “First, it ties into our sustainability initiative, where instead of all of this going into a waste facility, it's being recycled; and secondly, it's a community effort. It involves more than just one group. It's the entire community working together, both throughout the University and the city of Newark.”
The “this” that Harker referred to--a tented lot approximately the size of a football field filled with furniture, cookware, fans, rugs, books, TVs, speakers, baby items and sporting equipment--is the assemblage of useful items that used to end up, en masse, on the sidewalks of Newark every June. And the community effort he referred to is the full-throttle enthusiasm and generous donations that have fueled the program's success.
“Compared to last year, we've seen an increased use of the site, both in terms of the people donating and the people coming to take contributions,” said Deb Hoff, assistant University secretary who, along with co-chair Carol Houck, assistant to the city manager of Newark, was a key organizer of the campaign.
“We've also been very pleased this year with the feedback we've gotten from the neighborhood. Everyone appreciates the effort that this is to help people and to keep things out of the landfill and help the environment,” Hoff said.
David Matushik, founder of Green Delaware Recycling and a former UD student himself (AS '05), attested to that appreciation and said that the program benefits the community in every way. “Not only does Green Delaware Recycling get to partner with the University,” he said, “but we also get to make a huge impact in the community in terms of reducing the amount of waste that's landfilled while helping people in need.”
Matushik, who has been working as the UDon't Need It? site manager in six-hour shifts every day since the collections began on May 22, added that he's witnessed the effort getting “bigger and better” every year.
Patrick Bartling, a veteran employee with Newark's Public Works Department, added that the effort, beyond its most obvious and immediate payoffs, also has done much to bridge the town-gown divide. “It used to be that trash lined the streets and sidewalks throughout Newark around graduation and no one was happy,” he said. “This year is the best I've seen Newark in a long, long time.”
At two full days in and three full days left to go in the sale, with the tent clearing quickly, it's clear that customers are pleased, too, and the brisk pace of sales will ensure that, come next June, the effort will mark year three, as all profits get recycled into next year's campaign.
Mary Ann Hollingsworth from Avondale, Pa., who spent Thursday morning browsing the aisles of furniture, said that she liked both the idea and the atmosphere of the tent sale. And Yanping Wang, from Bear, Del., said that she'd returned for the second day, after purchasing a table-hockey game on Tuesday.
“The game I brought home is very popular,” Wang said, “and now I'm looking for a bicycle. I think I may be too late, but there's always next June.”
Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photo by Kathy Atkinson
