The Ames Rummage RAMPage has raised more than $160,000 in six years. It runs through Saturday
A community garage sale in Campustown is helping keep furniture and household items from the landfill while raising money for local nonprofits.
Now in its seventh year, the Rummage RAMPage is running through Saturday.
The City of Ames teams up with Iowa State’s Office of Sustainability each year to host the Rummage RAMPage, with the goal of keeping reusable items out of the waste stream.
How does Rummage RAMPage help keep things out of the landfill?
This time of the year in Ames, furniture and other usable items are often left at the curb during move-out and lease changeovers. To keep these items out of the landfill, the RAMPage sells donated items.
The event grew from the desire to repurpose items often left on the curb during the annual move-out and lease changeovers and to keep these items out of the landfill. Non-profit agencies send volunteers to help run the sale and share profits.
The event is open to anyone to donate or shop.
“The items that come to the event are not beneficial fuel for the Resource Recovery Center (which burns garbage and converts it to electricity), so they would be going to a landfill,” Merry Rankin, from ISU’s Office of Sustainability told the Ames Tribune in a past interview. “When you walk around and see how much use these items still have, it’s amazing the things that come in.”
How much money has the Rummage RAMPage raised?
Volunteers from 47 non-profit organizations help run the sale, which brings in a significant amount of money.
Sales have grown yearly, raising nearly $160,000 since 2016. Rummage RAMpage brought in $5,000 in year one, exploding for its record total of $49,000 in 2022.
More: In 2022, heirloom quilt accidentally donated to Rummage RAMPage reunited with grateful owner
How much material has the Rummage RAMPage diverted from the waste stream?
Rummage RAMpage has not only grown its sales year-over-year but the number of items donated have also blossomed.
More than 575,000 pounds of material that otherwise could've ended up as waste has found new life, totaling 287 tons of stuff.
Last year alone, officials estimated 143,838 pounds of furniture and housewares were diverted from the landfill.
The effort allowed Rummage RAMPage to win the first-ever Outstanding Waste Diversion Program and Video Award from the Iowa Society of Solid Waste Operations in 2022.
Where is the Rummage RAMPage held and what are the hours?
The Rummage RAMPage is held at the Ames Intermodal Facility parking ramp, located at 129 Hayward Ave.
The hours are noon to 6 p.m. through Friday. The sale will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and run until noon, with items half off.
Can I still donate items for the Rummage RAMPage?
Furniture and household items will be accepted each day through Friday. Donated items can be dropped off during sale hours from noon to 6 p.m.
No donated items will be accepted Saturday.
Accepted donations include furniture, small electronics such as toasters in working order, flatscreen TVs, housewares such as storage bins, kitchenware, sporting equipment including bicycles (but not bike helmets), houseplants and rechargeable batteries.
Linens, clothing, shoes, books, school supplies, toiletries and non-perishable food will be accepted but not sold. Rather, they will be donated to designated agencies, such as blankets for Ames Animal Shelters and school supplies for the Blast Back to School event.
For a complete list of what can be donated, visit the city’s website, cityofames.org.
Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Rummage RAMPage has diverted more than 287 tons from local landfill
