A group of Georgetown students founded Georgetown REUSE in 2022 to reduce waste and increase access to affordable clothes, school supplies, and dorm materials in their community. During their first semester on campus after the 2020/2021 virtual school year, they observed the excess consumption of new clothes and dorm items which led to an overwhelming quantity of unnecessary waste. Recognizing the problem, they envisioned creating a space where dorm materials, school supplies, and clothing could be diverted from the dumpsters and repurposed for students to buy at an extremely reduced price. To test their vision, throughout 2021 and 2022, they developed a series of pilot projects including hosting clothing swaps and launching re-used clothing racks in campus coffee shops. In the Spring of 2022, the founders won a Greens Commons grant which they used to host their first large-scale pop-up at the start of the Fall 2022 semester where they sold donated pre-loved dorm materials, clothing, and school supplies that they collected during the Spring 2022 move-out. In an attempt to formalize their operations and expand their projects, the 7 students became incorporated in the Fall of 2022. Since the founders first developed the idea for Georgetown REUSE, the team has worked through various local projects and partnerships and has continued to increase accessibility, reduce waste, and promote a circular system of consumption in the Georgetown community.
