A new resource for Western Michigan University students opened Thursday, offering free used items donated by students who no longer need them.
It’s called the Sustainable Housing Equipment Shed, or S.H.E. Shed, and it's stacked high with microwaves, decorations, and most anything else a student might need.
Kimberly Menjivar is an international student at WMU. She said the Shed will be especially useful for students like her.
“If you're an international student that just move and cannot like walk from — I don't know, you don't have a car, so getting the stuff here, it's a little bit more convenient for you.”
The shed is located in the back of WMU’s Office of Sustainability, where Brianna McCann is the program manager.
She said many of the items available were donated by students during move-out.
“When students are moving out of their dorms, a lot of the times they might be like, 'Hey, I don't need this item anymore. What am I going to do with it?' And if they don't have an easy way to dispose of it, they might throw it away, which is unfortunate. So, we're trying to mitigate some of that.”
McCann added that students may also return items after they no longer need them to keep the sustainability cycle going.
Diande Fidel is another WMU international student who found himself checking out the S.H.E. Shed.
He said he appreciates the project’s mission to reduce waste.
“Sometimes we use something, we no longer need it and we really don't know what to do with this thing and this is really a great idea to allow other people to benefit from it.”
Currently, the Shed offers items including cleaning supplies, kitchen equipment, decorations and school supplies, but with Halloween just a couple months away, students may soon see more festive items on display.
"We have actually a box of Halloween items that we will be displaying. So, we're going to be changing it based on the season. So, students, if you're looking for something like that, stop by in October, we might have an item for you," McCann said.
McCann added that the Office of Sustainability also hopes to give away clothing and other textiles at the Shed, but she said there's still a small roadblock keeping them from helping students freshen up their wardrobe.
"We want to be able to do that, but right now it's just a matter of figuring out, 'okay, like how do we get those items clean?' Because there's a lot of issues when it comes to, like, bedbugs," McCann said.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
