Happy bargain hunters left this year’s Cram & Scram program with everything from small appliances and school supplies to room furniture and decor. This was the 11th year of Cram & Scram and by all accounts another monumental success.
Director of Environmental Protection Safety and Sustainability Brian Hansen said the program began in 2008 as a way to diminish our community’s impact on the environment by curbing end-of-the-year solid waste generation through salvage/reuse/rebuy opportunities.
Hamilton cuts waste by promoting campus-wide recycling, composting food and reusing products through programs such as Cram & Scram. Hamilton also participates in Recyclemania, an eight-week competition for colleges and universities.
“The ‘Cram & Scram’” name is derived from the idea that before students ‘cram’ their cars with only belongings that will fit and ‘scram’ from campus, they might consider donating the rest of their stuff to next year's classes,” Hansen said. “But what once was merely a waste diversion tactic has grown into a strategy to save students money on all the necessary goods/consumables a part of everyday college dorm life.”
This year’s team included co-leaders Mian Osumi ’21 and Raven Haub ’19, along with Shelby Castillo ’19, Maria Saenz ’19, Daniel Harwood ’21, Quentin Reynolds ’21, and Drew Castronovo ’19.
When Cram & Scram began in 2008, student belongings were collected in the former ELS building then sold out of a tent in North Lot. Since then the event has grown and taken over Sage Rink for two days.
Many of the collected items not suitable for resale have long been donated to charitable organizations; clothing goes to the Salvation Army, bedding to local animal shelters and non-perishable food items to the Clarks Mills food pantry.
