Chris Maguire, a junior in the Villanova School of Business, is launching an app exclusive to the University community this month. The app, NovaMark, is a marketplace for students to buy and sell anything from textbooks to old sneakers to furniture. Maguire’s goal with NovaMark is to reduce students’ waste and save them time and money. 

His inspiration for the app came from two problems he noticed during his sophomore year. 

“The first issue I noticed was how difficult it is buying new things on campus,” Maguire said. He continued to say “shipping is generally a nuisance and if I want to buy a large piece of furniture I have to go off campus.” 

The second problem Maguire saw was the sheer amount of waste students were accumulating by the end of the school year. The annual move-out of residential halls often leaves uwanted or cumbersome leftovers are often left in the dumpsters despite being perfectly usable. 

According to Planet Aid, a non-profit focused on recycling and improving sustainable environments, on average, every college student produces 640 pounds of waste annually. 

The organization also notes that the majority of the waste is accumulated during move-out when kids throw away reusable items simply because they don’t want to deal with moving it to their homes.

With NovaMark, students will be able to post the things they don’t want to bring home for low prices so someone else can enjoy them. 

Maguire notes, “If I’m selling something I don’t want to take home with me I’ll likely post it at a cheaper price to ensure it gets sold.” This will save students money while simultaneously reducing the functional items thrown out at the end of the year. 

Additionally, a University  email must be used to create an account within the app, so it will only be University students buying and selling goods. 

This dramatically reduces the radius for picking up items which allows students to avoid shipping fees or paying for transportation to and from an off campus store. 

Another feature of the NovaMark app is that also saves time because the process won’t require driving a long distance for pick up or delivery. A layer of security is another advantage because it won’t require communicating with a stranger from the area surrounding the school since it will only be members of the Villanova community interacting.

As a student himself, Maguire hopes his app becomes a vital part of the Villanova community, reduces the waste students produce while also saving time and money.