September 6, 2012
Opening fall 2012 on Aug 28 and 29 was the fifth annual Cram and Scram, Hamilton College’s rendition of a huge yard sale. At first, the Sage Rink full of used goods from last school year looks like an enormous jungle of stuff. However, there is more to this mess than what catches the eye.
Cram and Scram is a student recycling program for reusable goods. There are 16 to 20 students who collect the goods at the end of the spring semester from the student body. The items are sorted, and some of the items are distributed to charities such as the Salvation Army, Country Pantry, Steven-Swan Humane Society and Prevent Child Abuse New York. The collected goods are then unloaded and resold in the fall.
The event was started by Terry Hawkridge, assistant director of Physical Plant, Grounds, Horticulture & Arboretum, in 2008, and was inspired by a webinar about how students moved out during the end of the year. Before the program, 11 dumpsters were taken to the landfill. This was environmentally wasteful as farmlands were removed to make room for landfills, and the products had not used up their life.
Hawkridge and others teamed up and came up with the idea of creating a more sustainable program. He emailed community members requesting help with the program and coordinated with the Hamilton Environmental Action Group (HEAG) and the Recycling Task Force. Hawkridge also selected student leaders to help the program.
According to Hawkridge, this year’s Cram and Scram was the biggest ever. Four tractor-trailers were needed to accommodate 10,000 pounds of reused items.
Adam Fix ’13, a student organizer, said, “The sale was more hectic than usual, mostly because we started at 11 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. like in the past. We also had more stuff to sell than in previous years because of a larger collection team last spring.”
Many students purchased items at the event. Ousseynou Tall ’16 managed to get two couches, a table and a swivel chair for $60 by getting there early. Cram and Scram helped Catherine Ding ’16, an international student from China, buy several items that she couldn’t bring with her to Hamilton. Milinda Ajawara ’16 said that Cram and Scram, “was really awesome and fun. I felt like I had to get everything.”
The $13,000 in 2012 sales offset the expenses for worker payrolls, U-Haul trucks and tractor trailers. Cram and Scram helps decrease mandatory custodial overtime as well as reduces waste. To improve the program next year, Hawkridge suggests that the student body try to sort their reusable items. In fall 2013, current Assistant Director of Custodial Services Jennifer Piren will take over Cram and Scram.