The Office of Physical Plant's furniture reuse program is a great way for Penn State departments to find cheap, usable office furniture. How cheap? Free. University employees can choose the goods they need from the program's 12,000 square foot warehouse, and the only cost is for delivery.
The environmentally focused and financially beneficial program began when Beam Hall was renovated two years ago. Items such as desks, cabinets and office panels were taken out of the North Halls building and needed new homes. Instead of sending them to the landfill, they were saved and the program was born.
"It's been a very positive experience getting the furniture reuse program off the ground," OPP Administrative Assistant and "furniture maven" Phyllis Hooven said. "Our main goal is to save usable furniture from going to the landfill… but also, why should we have to pay for new furniture when old Penn State furniture can be reused?"
Although Hooven's program is only available to Penn State employees, the public can find similar used goods at low prices at Lion Surplus. The salvage store, located on Services Road by the Katz Law School Building, offers a wider selection of items, including computers, bicycles and a large variety of University equipment from all areas.
If an office is looking to get rid of furniture, it can contact Hooven and she will organize pickup. Units interested in finding materials to fill their office spaces can call Hooven and she will organize a time to visit the warehouse, located on East College Avenue by the Nittany Mall. Interested individuals can tour the facility and pick out what furniture they'd like to take.
Up until now, the program has been gaining popularity through word of mouth, and in two years, those words have taken the program a long way. Hooven and Jim Brown, OPP lead man for Labor and Equipment, have worked together to outfit more than 30 offices with everything from desks, conference tables, shelves and more -- and they have plenty more to go.
"We've been able to take so much furniture that our facility is full," Brown said. "Now that we have the stuff, we're looking to really move the program forward."
The furniture reuse program provided all but one piece of furniture (an office chair for its 6-foot, 7-inch-tall director) for the Campus Sustainability Office. The office was able to find all of its office needs from the program's collection.
"Some of the furniture was refinished and some reupholstered," CSO Program Coordinator Lydia Vadenbergh said. "This shows that when you begin with a sturdy chair, it can be used repeatedly for many years."
For more information on the program, contact Hooven at 814-865-1629.