On an unusually warm Saturday in May, the MSU Bobcat Football Stadium concession area overflowed with tons of office and household goods looking for a new home and a second lease on life.

A surplus of desks, chairs, computers, printers and other equipment, for sale by MSU Property Management, was joined by tables of clothes, furniture and other household goods. MSU students donated many of the items as they cleaned out their dorm rooms for the summer.

On May 16 the first official 'Don't Dump It! MSU Yard Sale' was sponsored by Montana State University Extension and Residence Life.

"The whole goal for the program was to not have good items thrown in a landfill where they would rot away," said Liz Grant, resident director of Johnstone-Mullan Hall.  "We wanted people to be able to reuse items that otherwise would be lost forever." 

Taking a cue from similar events at the University of Notre Dame and Swarthmore College, MSU Extension housing specialist, Mike Vogel, suggested that MSU hold their own yard sale.

"A few phone calls between departments a month before residence halls closed, and the MSU Yard Sale was approved," said Grant. Involvement and participation came from the President's Office, Family & Graduate Housing, Facilities Services, Property Management and Sports Facilities.

Even with such short notice about the program, students quickly filled collection areas.

"Working with Property Management, Extension gathered trucks and volunteers to pick up items two times during finals week," said Grant. "Multiple pick-ups were needed because the items started to overflow. Overall, when it was said and done, it went extremely well."

Items at the sale included refrigerators, microwaves, futons, armchairs, stuffed animals, dishes, bedding, sporting goods, rugs and other remnants of dorm life. There were some definite fun college items like masks and costume jewelry, and a glow-in-the-dark Ouija board game was displayed next to a giant holiday cookie tin.

Other than the extensive pile of hair rollers, hair dryers and curling irons – suggesting that straight hair will be in style next year – it looked like any other large, neighborhood garage sale. And to event organizers, that was a good thing.

"The biggest benefit of a sale like this is that people can see how quickly our 'trash' might accumulate in the landfill. When everything was set up, I told people that most of what they were seeing would have ended up in the Logan Landfill. They were shocked," said Barb Allen, project manager in the MSU Extension Housing and Environmental Health Program.  "Then I reminded them they were looking at stuff from only one year. That’s usually when they got quiet."

Event organizers found multiple benefits in the new program. Awareness increased–both on campus and in the Bozeman community–about sustainability issues, environmental impact and just plain recycling. "Students were enthused to know their items were going toward a good cause," said Grant.

Profits from the event will go into an account for MSU sustainability efforts including future sales or helping support campus organizations committed to recycling. 

According to Allen, this type of event should spread beyond MSU. "Every place in the state could benefit from a program like this. The size of a community is irrelevant because the damage done by people is usually relative to its population. I think all state universities should look into this. With a little bit of manpower, a huge difference can be seen and felt," said Allen.