Baseball rivalries, family vacations, midday tanning.
Late July is surely upon us.
But in Iowa City, furniture lining the avenues is the biggest giveaway that school is less than a month away. This week and next are the biggest move-in and move-out weeks of the year.
Instead of littering your former front yard with couches, chairs, and coffee tables, we urge you to donate them to Rummage in the Ramp —Iowa City’s biggest garage sale.
Rummage in the Ramp is a weeklong sale located in the Chaucy Swan parking ramp. The event works like this: People donate their still-good but no-longer-needed home items; the items are taken to the first level of the parking lot and priced — usually just a few dollars; other people are invited to rummage through the items for excellent deals.
The event started on Sunday and goes until Aug. 2.
• Today-Friday: Noon to 8 p.m.
• Saturday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Aug. 2: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lazy? Don’t have a truck? Legs broke? No problem. Rummage in the Ramp volunteers will come to your house or apartment building to pick up your donated items. You can schedule a pickup time online.
Most importantly, this is a way to help the community: You can reduce your waste and also help others. However, facilitating the reuse of household items has other positive consequences as well.
By reducing waste, you’re helping the environment. The more items that get donated and sold, the fewer items there will be headed to the landfill. Additionally, a great deal of energy and resources goes into producing and transporting new furniture. It’s in the best interest of our environment to just keep your couch here instead of scrapping it and having someone else buy a new couch.
Additionally, proceeds from the event will benefit local nonprofits who field volunteers to staff the event. Most of the organizations involved are environmental groups or groups aimed at assisting low-income residents. They include:
• Habitat for Humanity
• UI Environmental Coalition
• Urban & Regional Planning Student Association
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Engineers for a Sustainable World
Between 2007 and 2008 — the event’s first two years — money generated to support the organizations involved more than doubled from slightly more than $4,000 in 2007 to almost $9,000 last year.
We hope Iowa Citians can step up to break that record for a second year in a row. There is simply no easier way to support the local community. All you have to do is shop.
Get rid of your old junk; buy quality stuff at ridiculously low prices; help local charities. You have no reason not to attend Rummage in the Ramp this week.
