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The popular Cram & Scram resale event will be back and bigger than ever in its new home in Sage Rink. The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 24, and 9 a.m. to noon, on Aug. 25. Terry Hawkridge, assistant director of physical plant, student leader Claire Sayler '12 and the student crew will unload four tractor trailer-loads of items such as couches and chairs, lamps, fans, refrigerators, microwaves, kitchenware and storage drawers.

In its third year, Cram & Scram has perfected the formula for reusing unwanted goods, and helping others in the process. Fifteen students from all class years worked many hours in the early days of summer break to collect more than 10,000 pounds of goods that have found new and happy homes, resulting in fewer deposits of these usable goods to a landfill. This year, Cram & Scram reduced landfill deposits by more than 40 percent—10 percent more than 2009.

Bag it, don’t toss it. Hamilton’s annual clear bag reuse and recycle program known as Cram & Scram is back. Its purpose is to reduce the college’s burden on the local landfill by putting aside items that the student body can use next year.

Eight students from the Recycling Task Force and the Cram & Scram crews collected reused items and food during exam week in the mini-scram campaign. About 90 pounds of food, clothing, bedding, shoes and coats, small appliances and furniture were donated. The food will be added to that being collected at the Physical Plant for the Clark's Mills Food Pantry. The appliances and furniture are headed to the Utica Salvation Army, along with the reuse sneakers from the Fitness Center and the Athletic department.

They were lined up at 7 a.m. A passer-by might assume that the hundreds of Hamilton students in North Lot on August 25 were there to buy tickets for a popular band’s concert or to take advantage of a free giveaway. But the students gave new meaning to “reduce, reuse and recycle” as they turned out by the hundreds for the 2nd annual Ham Cram & Scram tent sale. Cram & Scram is a reuse/recycle program aimed at reducing end-of-the-year waste; residence hall items were collected at the end of the spring semester, stored over the summer and tagged at bargain basement prices to be snapped up at the two-day tent sale.

The second annual Cram & Scram recycling effort has come to a close with unprecedented results. Fifteen students led by Ashley Langer '09 dedicated more than 1,000 hours of work within a two-week period, and their hard work paid off – this year's group demonstrated an intense commitment that prompted outstanding results.

After last year's successful launch of Ham's Cram & Scram, the recycling effort is back and it appears that it will surpass last year's collection. The purpose of Cram & Scram is to collect recyclable/reusable items from residence halls – everything from furniture and appliances to clothing, books and unopened food items. Rather than throwing the items away and sending them to the county landfill, they are collected and sorted for reuse.

Coming off the success of the first big year-end waste reduction project, "Ham Cram & Scram," the Recycling Task Force (RTF) initiated the "Mini-Scram" for semester break. In each residence hall's common room, a collection station was created for unwanted items and food for the local food bank.

Those who were on campus last semester will most likely remember the end-of-year "Ham's Cram & Scram," where students from the Recycling Task Force collected recyclable/reusable items from residence halls. Now the fruits of the volunteers' labor will be for sale at the Cram & Scram tent sale on Aug. 26 and 27.

Hamilton College is conducting its first "Ham's Cram & Scram" from May 14-24. The project is designed to reduce the College's end-of-year waste by recycling and reusing items that would typically be thrown out at the end of the academic year.