Tayana Osuna, arts and culture editor

In the basement of the Science Hall in Room 8B, you’ll find the Augsburg Share Shop, a donation center for students to either drop off or pick up items. These items include free clothing, kitchen equipment, dorm goods, furniture and cleaning supplies. All these items are donated by students, staff and really anyone looking to lighten their load. The Share Shop is run by Augsburg’s Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC), who recently hosted an event on the main level of Christensen Center to promote this service. 

The event was focused on featuring the Share Shop and sharing other aspects of the ESC. The Share Shop team’s set up for the event consisted of a couple racks of clothing, boxes of books and school supplies. The table was run by four participants of the Share shop: Mercy Zou Thaithul, Gigi Huerta, Grace Koch Muchahary and Gabriela Ortiz-Riera. The combination of Einstein customers, people leaving lunch and students walking from classes gathered around the table to learn more. 

ESC focuses on sustainability on campus through various groups, with the Share Shop program only being one of them. Their other sustainability programs include the Garden Team, Sustainable Operation, and Augsburg Local.

Ortiz-Riera, who is also the Augsburg Day Student Government Vice President, understands that this organization is relevant to all people at Augsburg. “We are all college students and all have similar needs,” she said. She explained that the Share Shop grants students an easy way to be “environmentally friendly,” which is an important matter for Augsburg Students.

Zou added to this, stating that the purpose of the Share Shop is to “help students save some dollars,” which will ultimately help them with their finances overall. 

The Share Shop also hosts a free bagel event every Monday from 10:40 AM – 5 PM. If you have more questions or want to get involved, ESC has an Instagram, @sustainable_augsburgu, that has their website linked as well. If you would like to donate to the Share Shop, you can bring items during their hours of operation on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 AM – 5 PM.