Trash to Treasure, a new non-profit organization at Tulane, made its debut sale during this year’s fall move-in weekend. The sale, which was held Aug. 22-24 in the Lab Theatre in McWilliams Hall, raised $12,500, exceeding the original goal of $5,000.

Founder Anne Bevis said the program aims to protect the environment while allowing students to have easier move-in experiences.

“Trash to Treasure is a program that helps to connect the move-in and move-out cycles in a cost-saving and environmentally friendly way,” Bevis said.

Volunteers for the program began their work early this summer, collecting over 25,000 pounds of donated goods from students, and continued well into the summer, cleaning and preparing items for sale.

As president of Tulane’s Green Club, Bevis introduced the project to Tulane after receiving a grant from the university. Modeled after similar projects at several northern universities, Tulane Trash to Treasure is one of the first programs of its kind in the South. Bevis said the organizers were unsure of how successful the event would be.

“We were nervous about how the sale would go; we had no idea if parents and students would buy from us since the items are [used], but even on our first sale day, the space was packed out the door with customers,” Bevis said.

Customers were able to purchase a myriad of items, including clothes, lamps, chairs and storage containers, which were marked down anywhere from 50 to 90 percent.

Sophomore Peter Gray said he visited the sale with no specific shopping list in mind but was happy with the items he purchased.

“I did end up buying an awesome snakes and ladders rug,” Gray said.

Volunteers worked through the summer to sort through donations and find items that were acceptable for sale, while others participated just before the sale to move items from storage to McWilliams Hall. Sophomore and volunteer Kendal Simonse said she enjoyed sorting through the wide variety of items that were being sold.

“I liked organizing the items because it was cool to see the whole spectrum of things for the sale,” Simonse said.

Much of the money raised will be used to finance next year’s costs, such as renting storage units and vehicles to move the sale items. The remaining money will be divided and donated to several local New Orleans charities.