The Reuse Network Ships 20 Trailers During the First Week of Summer Season
(Concord, NH) When schools and colleges let out for summer, The Reuse Network enters its busiest season. The first week of June provided a strong example. Between June 1 and June 5, The Reuse Network coordinated 20 trailers of school furnishings from projects in Virginia, Texas, and Colorado. The 2,300 chairs, 2,350 desks, 730 work tables, and more than 1,100 other items are destined for schools and communities in Mexico, Honduras, and Lebanon.
Summer is when many educational institutions undertake classroom renovations, furniture replacements, and building improvements. While students are away, contractors move quickly to complete projects before the new school year begins. That process often leaves schools with hundreds or even thousands of desks, chairs, tables, and other furnishings that are no longer needed but still have years of useful life remaining.
The Reuse Network works with schools, colleges, hospitals, corporations, and government agencies to keep those furnishings out of American landfills and place them with nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged communities. Since 2002, the organization has completed more than 2,500 reuse projects, provided more than 2,000,000 items to charitable organizations, and diverted more than 100,000,000 pounds of useful assets from the waste stream.
The week’s projects stretched more than 2,000 miles from Virginia to Colorado. In Colorado, furnishings from three schools filled five trailers bound for Mexico. In Texas, thirteen trailers were loaded with desks, chairs, tables, and other classroom furnishings, with destinations including Mexico and Lebanon. In Virginia, two trailers of furnishings were prepared for shipment to Honduras.
In total, the week’s projects generated enough furnishings to equip classrooms for thousands of students. Many schools and community organizations in the recipient countries operate with limited resources and little access to affordable furnishings. Desks, chairs, and tables that are considered surplus in the United States can remain in service for many years in schools where basic classroom equipment is difficult to obtain.
The pace is expected to continue into the following week. The Reuse Network anticipates another 20 trailers from projects in Texas, Indiana, and Vermont, with furnishings destined for Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica, and communities in New York State.
The first week of June represents only a small portion of The Reuse Network’s annual activity, but it demonstrates the scale of summer reuse efforts. In just five days, more than 6,000 furnishings avoided disposal and will begin a second life supporting education and community development worldwide.
