Sawstainability

Sawstainability - Thanks to a little vision and plenty of elbow grease, infinite possibilities await the Forest's second-hand wood.
Sawstainability Thanks to a little vision and plenty of elbow grease, infinite possibilities await the Forest's second-hand wood.
Sawstainability – Thanks to a little vision and plenty of elbow grease, infinite possibilities await the Forest’s second-hand wood
if campus furniture could talk, one can only imagine the stories we might hear.
if campus furniture could talk, one can only imagine the stories we might hear.
if campus furniture could talk, one can only imagine the stories we might hear.

Times change, students, faculty and staff move on – yet these silent wooden bystanders have seen it all. That very idea was top of mind for several members of Wake Forest’s Residence Life & Housing Department, as well as the campus facilities team, who together devised a plan to salvage the outdated residence hall furniture that had served generations of students. When faced with the choice to remove and replace, they instead chose a more rewarding path that kept thousands of pounds of materials from landfills. Today, yesterday’s bed frames can be found leading productive second lives across our campus and local community.

“This bed may have reached its useful end of life in its current form. But we look beyond that, and think about, ‘What can we do with it? What can it mean to someone else?’ We’ve always been an institution that has looked for the betterment of others, and we have used this furniture and these resources to benefit others.”

Frank Shelton, Director of Housing Large image of a nail.
Frank Shelton, Director of Housing
Bolt used to for the top arm of the number 2 Rachet used to form the main arm of the number 2 Bolt used to form the base of the number 2 Small bolt representing a 'comma' Level used as the first 1 in the animation Paint brush used as the second 1 in the animation Folding ruler shaped like the number 3 2,113 Old Bed Frames Removed
2,113 Old Bed Frames Removed
2,113 Old Bed Frames Removed
Allen Wrench used to form the number 3 Bolt used to form the number 3 Electrical tape used to from the number 9 Hammer used to form the base of the number 9 Nut used to form the top part of the % sign Screw used to form the slash in the % sign Washer used to form the bottom part of the % sign 39% Retained for Construction
39% Retained for Construction
39% Retained for Construction
Tape measure with a short amount of tape out in shape of the number 6 Pencil used to represent the number 1 in the animation Nut used to represent the top part of the % symbol Slanted wrench used to represent the / in the % symbol Washer used as the buttom part of the % symbol 61% Donated
61% Donated
61% Donated
Spinning saw blade representing the number 0 in the animation Large washer representing the top part of the % symbol in animation Screwdriver representing the / in the % symbol Washer representing the button circle in the % symbol 0% Sent to Landfill
0% Sent to Landfill
0% Sent to Landfill
Meet the Cast
Meet the Cast

While sustainability at Wake Forest is a comprehensive effort with all aboard, below you’ll find a bit more about a few of the key figures for this particular story. Enjoy.

This story captures just one of many ways Wake Forest is making sustainability a part of daily life for students, faculty and staff. If you’d like to explore this subject further, check out our Office of Sustainability. Currently the up-cycled furniture featured in this story is not available to the public for purchase, but should that change, we will certainly make the Wake Forest community aware.

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