Meet reEF: a secondhand trading website built to help students on campus buy, sell, or donate items on campus.Their goal is to reduce waste, give unused items a second life, and make a sustainable, circular economy within the school community. At the end of every semester, tons of items pile up in the school lobby. They’re still usable, but no one takes them, so they end up as waste. That’s how the idea for reEF started: instead of throwing things away, why not give students an easy platform to sell or donate them? EF is also filled with international students, so the campus becomes a “temporary home.” A lot of items stay functional but get left behind because students don’t have space to keep them. reEF gives those items another chance to be used by someone else.” Every semester the lobby fills up with things students leave behind,” Chi Ling Chen said. “Most of it is still perfectly usable, and it felt like such a waste to see all of it thrown away.“ The group allows students to buy and sell items. Students can post items they don’t need anymore, and buyers can get them at a lower cost. They also have a donation program. Students can give away items for free, helping others without needing money involved. This way, items that would normally collect dust or get tossed out can be reused within the community. By keeping items circulating on campus, reEF cuts down on waste, supports sustainability, and helps students save money.
“A lot of students don’t stop using things because they want to,” Chen said. “They just don’t have space to bring everything home. reEF helps those items find a new owner instead of ending up in the trash.”
Creating reEF wasn’t easy. Most team members had no web design experience, so they had to research everything from scratch. Payment systems were also challenging at first, but the team figured out solutions over time. In the testing stages, they ran into bugs and design issues. Feedback from students and teachers showed the need for features like order tracking and a cleaner homepage. Rick Duque also gave suggestions, which led to updates that made the site easier to use. “None of us really knew how to build a website at first,” Chi Ling said. “We had to research everything from scratch, and every bug we fixed taught us something new.” Some items have already been sold successfully, and students said the platform really helped them. Many people think the project is meaningful, and teachers believe it has strong potential to become a long-term system for the school. The team plans to add online payments, attract more users, and turn reEF into a tool that students use regularly, even after the original creators graduate. Working on reEF taught a valuable lesson: once you commit to something, stay persistent. Don’t be discouraged by others’ doubts. When problems arise – whether technical, logistical, or social – face them directly and find solutions, don’t give up. “Once you decide to do something, you have to stay committed,” she said. “Problem aren’t there to stop you – they’re there for you to solve. If you’re a student thinking of launching a similar initiative, one tip from the reEF team is: start with solid communication with the school, and build clear understanding of website functionality early, to minimize mistakes. reEF is more than just a page. It’s a micro-community that encourages recycling, sustainability, mutual support, and resourcefulness. By giving students a platform to exchange items within their own community, reEF can help reduce campus waste, lower costs for students, and foster a culture of reuse and shared responsibility. At a time when sustainability matters more than ever, reEF proves that even a small student project can support bigger environmental and social goals and maybe inspire other schools to do the same.
