Sustainability

New2U Sustainable Reuse Program Celebrates Expansion to Thrift Store

New2U Thrift Store — Students, faculty and community members shop at the new year-round New2U thrift store.

New2U opening — Students, faculty and community members shop at the new year-round New2U thrift store.

Sam the Minuteman at New2U — Sam the Minuteman celebrates New2U's opening day.

New2U, a sustainable reuse program led by Facilities Management Sustainability (Sustainable UMass), celebrated its expansion into a student-run thrift store with a grand opening on Feb. 13. The store is current open during the academic year to serve the campus community and beyond.

The new store is located in the Southwest Residential Area in Hampden Commons, Room 205. The event included a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, a raffle, hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, and remarks by Ezra Small, campus sustainability manager. Small introduced the retail outlet’s student leadership team including store manager, inventory and pricing coordinator, volunteer coordinator, and events and marketing coordinator.

Now in its 10^th year, the New2U Sustainable Move-Out Collection and Move-In Tag Sale has consisted of a waste diversion and reuse program run by students and staff and supported by Facilities and Campus Services along with other campus partners. Volunteers and campus staff collect unwanted items like clothing, furniture, decor and small appliances during move-out, and resell these items during a move-in tag sale. Since the program’s inception, New2U has been able to divert well over 100,000 pounds of items from landfills.

The New2U store will sell thousands of new or gently used items back to the UMass Amherst community at affordable prices. The store is open Wednesday-Friday from 1-5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and is accessible via the Southwest Concourse on the second floor of Hampden, across the main lobby from the Hampden Art Gallery.

Living room items in the New2U Thrift Store

Donations of accepted items are collected Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. via donation bins in the Hampden lobby, with extended hours and locations during move-out week.

The addition of the thrift store makes the New2U program completely self-sustaining, as proceeds from the store and tag sale will underwrite the cost of student staff salaries and other expenses, providing the campus community with a waste reduction and sustainability solution throughout the year.

“Beyond a solution for campus waste diversion and reuse, we envision the New2U Thrift Store will foster a culture of circularity at UMass Amherst,” Small notes. “New2U will provide students with opportunities for meaningful service through campus jobs and volunteering and act as a hub for engagement in campus sustainability efforts.”