Over Christmas break, the Clear Creek Independent School District asked our longtime partner Meteor Education to install new seating, desks, science and activity tables at Clear Brook High School outside of Houston. Wanting to do something better than throw the existing desks and chairs into a landfill, the District asked if Meteor had a more sustainable alternative. Account Manager Lacey Steward recommended IRN – The Reuse Network.
The replacement included 125 classrooms and more than 2,500 pieces. We’ve had projects like that. Two days to get it done, the weekend before Christmas. We’ve had projects like that. Two floors, no usable elevators. We’ve had projects like that. Hallways a quarter of a mile long. We’ve never had a project like that.
Through our good friend Dave Wylie at Bohrens Moving & Storage, we made contact with Kyle Freeman from Roadrunner Moving & Storage in Houston. Kyle assigned the 20+ movers and crew chiefs and the 200 wheeled dollies we’d need to move that much furniture through those infinitely long hallways. IRN’s Martha Goettelman found recipients willing to work so close to the holiday, and Logistics Manager Jim Buchholz scheduled the trucking. Clear Brook Associate Principal Stephanie Williams took on the heroic task of preparing pull-sheets for every room and taping them to the doors. Allexus Dronet trekked in from Dallas to provide Meteor oversight.
As soon as students left school on Friday, the Roadrunners arrived and started to lay Masonite to protect carpeting through the long hallways. Others taped layers of cardboard to the stairs, so desks and chairs could be sent down as if on a sliding board. Late on Friday afternoon, Jim Buchholz brought in one trailer. Loading into the darkness the Roadrunner crew took a 350 piece bite out of the inventory.
On Saturday we doubled up on trailers. Twice. After a 10-hour day, 1,350 pieces were on their way. On Sunday, the crew filled another two trailers with 840 pieces. In total, in less than 48 hours The Reuse Network managed the reuse of 2,520 pieces, including more than 1,200 combo chair-desks, 750 student chairs, 260 tables, and about 300 other items. These are in the process of being distributed to impoverished student communities in northern Mexico. The few pieces too worn or damaged to be reused were recycled locally for their scrap value. No more than 20-30 items ended up in a landfill. We salute and thank our friends and partners at Meteor Education and Roadrunner Moving & Storage, and particularly the administration at Clear Brook ISD for their commitment to reuse, and for making it possible for The Reuse Network to fulfill our own environmental and social mission.
