The Office of Campus Sustainability, known for its solid waste reduction efforts, hosts The BGSU Campus ReStore for students, staff and community members. These efforts reduce solid waste in the community by providing gently used items to find new uses free of charge.
Offering free items like clothing, appliances, books and more – Sustainability Coordinator, Zach Hayes, shared where the items come from.
“So everything that’s here comes from students and staff, mostly on campus. There are a few outside donors that also bring household items and things like that to us,” Hayes said.
With so many donations coming from multiple places, there is a lot of planning that goes on before presenting many of the items to the community.
“Essentially, we get about 20,000 pounds of on-campus donations on average, every semester, so we try and collect it all, bring it here, weigh it and then put it in our back sorting room. Then we end up sorting things by department type and then bring them out to the storefront,” Hayes said.
Depending on the day, there can be some items donated that can be a nice treat for departments like technology.
“Sometimes we even have things like today, I think we have three laptops available, so they’re old Chromebooks that someone donated and could be repurposed if someone needs a laptop,” Hayes added.
Along with the traditional departments and decorations, the Campus ReStore also has things available that some students might forget or realize they need. Items like bedsheets and extra pillows are also available.
According to Hayes, the Campus ReStore had been around since 2012, when a space in Harshman Hall opened, which, after it was torn down, was moved to Kreischer before finding its current home in the McDonald Hall Annex.
Though it is a fun play on words of reuse and store, the Campus ReStore is not set up as a traditional shopping outlet.
“We don’t offer any sort of bags other than maybe some of the reusable bags we have in the store for people to take. So it’s very limited in terms of bags, definitely recommend bringing your own,” Hayes explained.
The Campus Restore is normally referred to as the ReStore; however, there could be some potential overlap with other local organizations.
“A lot of people call it the restore, but then it gets confused with the new one that just opened in town. It’s the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which is a completely different thing so we don’t want any confusion there,” Hayes said.
Because of the great impact the Campus ReStore has during the school year, they also work with many local charities, not limiting donations to only the academic year. Nonprofits like La Conexión and The Cocoon have received items from the Campus ReStore over the summer before students return to campus.
“So a lot of places that do need these resources for community members, we give them to those non-profits to try and maximize the impact we’re having on the community and then whatever is left is given away to the student body.”
For those who may be interested in volunteering to help with the BGSU Campus ReStore, you can find their listings on BGSUserves.
“If you use your single sign-on credentials, you can log in and see all our service opportunities. Just look up Office of Campus Sustainability when you do and you should be able to find our group and then see all our listings for ways you can help sort or help stock shelves,” Hayes explained.
Donations to the BGSU Campus ReStore can be brought to the donation bin right by the entrance from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information on the ReStore: https://www.bgsu.edu/campus-sustainability/recycling-waste-reduction/ReUse_Initiatives.html
