Have you wondered what happens to OSU office furniture and supplies when those things are no longer needed? Are you concerned about sustainability and wishing more was being done to implement zero waste efforts? If so, you will be happy to know that the Business Services Operations Department has yet again demonstrated that repurposing and recycling works right here at OSU!
Over the past month, the Operations team assisted seven University departments repurpose furniture that was left over from a previous organization residing in Reed and Heckert Halls. As you might expect, there were many office items that these seven departments could use in their new location. Working like a well-oiled machine, the Operations team (includes staff from Recycling, Moving, and Surplus Property) worked collaboratively with the seven departments to identify and inventory furniture that could be repurposed. Amazingly, over 90% of the office furniture was repurposed by the incoming departments, and the Operations team helped shuttle those items to the new location within Reed & Heckert, in time for the departments to move in. Repurposing furniture can not only save departments and OSU money, it helps us all be more sustainable.
The lesson we can learn from the Operations Department team’s efforts is that repurposing works!
For more information on the great work that the Business Services Operations team is doing and how you can get involved, check out their websites (Surplus Property: http://surplus.oregonstate.edu/, Campus Recycling: http://recycle.oregonstate.edu/)/. Remember to contact Surplus Property when you have items that can be repurposed or recycled and come check out the OSUsed Store sales (http://surplus.oregonstate.edu/public/osused).
Surplus Property is a self-sustaining department, taking the first $40 of a sale and then returning a percentage of the remaining amount to the owning department. In fact, Surplus Property returned over $770,000 to owning departments and agencies in the last fiscal year.
