The production, manufacture and delivery of all furniture and equipment has an environmental impact. We're aiming to decrease that impact by making sure that we reduce what we buy and throw away. Making use of unwanted or surplus items is becoming more commonplace as awareness of waste increases – the clue is in the name – it's a waste, so why not reuse what we have?

Although 95% of our waste is recycled, we can decrease our environmental impact by keeping items intact and reusing them, rather than them being broken down and made into new items.

Re-Store has been part of our sustainably management plan since 2012. Re-Store is a simple way of sustainably managing furniture and equipment that is surplus to one department and making it available to others, via an internal re-use service. Think of it as UoB Freecycle.

Another incentive for staff using Re-Store is that it saves the University money. We are all working to budgets, so it's only sensible to save on buying where second-hand is available, and spend that funding on furthering our work elsewhere.

Have a look at "Sad Chairs of Academia" to see what we're talking about. If you've got some sad chairs (or any other sad items, in fact) you will probably be able to replace it for free with something from Re-Store. We can make sure that your old item is recycled correctly, or, if you have surplus furniture, we can make sure those items are redistributed within the University.

We only accept furniture which we would deem as in good or excellent condition, otherwise we can't rehome it. If you have multiple waste items, please book a bulk collection or arrange for a skip. These are bookable through the procurement website under 'Supplier List'. Currently McKeown are contracted for clearances and ETM for skips.

The Temporary Staffing Service (TSS) office spaces have been completely refurbished using furniture from Re-Store. In all, Re-Store provided four desks, 16 office chairs and 35 meeting room chairs. The Faculty of Engineering Finance Team also recently kitted out an office with four desks, four pedestals and a bookcase.