Iowa State University offers a number of reuse opportunities to students, faculty and staff for items they would otherwise consider waste and contribute to the landfill.

Through the university's ongoing ISU Surplus Program, furniture, equipment and a diversity of supplies related to campus offices and operations that are deemed unneeded by one department and/or unit can be utilized by another department and/or unit rather than thrown away. This results in the return of more than $250,000 of reusable assets into university operations on an annual basis. In addition to being utilized for campus operations, surplus items are also offered for sale to university employees and students, as well as community members and businesses during weekly public sales.

Multiple events during the academic year offer unique and impactful opportunities for reuse. The Move Out Donation Program is the Department of Residence's annual spring move-out collection event in which any reusable item (clothes, furniture, electronics, food, cleaning supplies, etc.) is collected for redistribution to community shelters, food banks and non-profit organizations. In the last few years of offering this opportunity, many bags of food and pounds of clothing have been collected and put to reuse. Additional events, including a t-shirt collection, community clothing, book and FreeCycle swaps, textbook collection and ISU Dining's donation of "day-old" items from five of its campus cafes to community programs and organizations, add additional waste diversion, as well as benefit to communities in need.

See the dropdowns below to see how reusing is making an impact within each of the three facets of sustainability. 

  • Ninety-five percent of the mulch Campus Services uses is produced on-campus, allowing the university to meet almost all of its mulch needs through in-house production. To make up any difference, Iowa State also accepts donations from community members and organizations that have leftover mulch from projects.
  • TreeCYcle is a program that ensures all suitable downed campus trees are salvaged for lumber to be reused for class projects and various campus initiatives.
  • When moving out of campus housing, students are encouraged to participate in the Move Out Donation Program. The program enables students to place unwanted items such as housewares and non-perishable foods in easy-to-find drop-off sites. The Department of Residence (DOR) then partners with community non-profits such as Goodwill, which sells, donates or recycles, all donations to ensure donations are not landfilled. This annual effort is organized with assistance from the DOR's student sustainability team, Central Stores and Facilities Planning & Management.
  • Used grease from ISU Dining facilities is sold to ISU BioBus, a student organization that makes biodiesel from reclaimed vegetable oil and supplies it to CyRide for use in some of their Cybrid transit vehicles that serve Iowa State University and the community of Ames, providing a beneficial use for a waste product and reducing disposal costs.
  • BYOC! Save $0.35 per coffee drink for bringing your own cup to any ISU Dining location. Using reusable containers saves money for customers, as well as operations, through not purchasing disposable cups, lids and sleeves.
  • ISU Surplus provides an outlet to university departments and business units, as well as individuals and communities, for purchasing used items instead of investing money and budgets on new items.

  • Facilities Planning and Management recycles street sweepings by separating trash from rocks and soil, which can then be reused in landscaping projects rather than being landfilled.
  • Rather than send unwanted materials to the landfill, items such as outdated dishware sets and office equipment are first sent to ISU Surplus and offered for sale to colleges, departments and community members that can use them for business and home needs.
  • Facilities Planning and Management is reducing the number of petroleum-based and virgin material basedmaterial-based products used in construction projects. These products are being replaced by recycled-content materials, including carpet, floor tile, solid surface countertops, dry walldrywall, ceiling tile, concrete, as well as steel, which is composed of at least 97% recycled material.
  • Used grease from ISU Dining facilities is sold to ISU BioBus, a student organization that makes biodiesel from reclaimed vegetable oil and supplies it to CyRide for use in some of their Cybrid transit vehicles that serve Iowa State University and the community of Ames, providing a beneficial use for a waste product and reducing emissions of traditionally-fueled buses.
  • The DOR takes advantage of opportunities to donate used materials. Cloth curtains from wardrobes located in Maple-Willow-Larch dorms are donated to local non-profits for reuse in a diversity of projects.

  • Campus Services offers a “free wood” program for community use. This wood is collected from downed and damaged trees that are not used to make mulch or repurposed for TreeCYcle, and is a great way for wood to find a new home while saving people money.
  • Information Technology (IT) determines the life cycle of its technology. Desktops and laptops have "two lives" that span about six years -- one life is with IT, and the other is with a new owner somewhere on campus. After both of these lives, desktops and laptops go to ISU Surplus to be sold to the public during the weekly in-person sale and online.
  • Used grease from ISU Dining facilities is sold to ISU BioBus, a student organization that makes biodiesel from reclaimed vegetable oil and supplies it to CyRide for use in some of their Cybrid transit vehicles that serve Iowa State University and the community of Ames, providing a student-driven entrepreneur opportunity, as well as educational experience for hundreds of Iowa K-12 students who tour the BioBus Laboratory each year.

One man's junk is another man's treasure!

Mark Ludwig, Manager of ISU Surplus