W&L Exchange: A Campus Resource for Sustainable Sharing

During her first year at Washington and Lee University, Augusta Weaver '26 found herself browsing the aisles of the University Store, loading up on binders, folders and various traditional school supplies. While contemplating her selections, she simply couldn't shake a feeling that continued to nag at her.

"I was just thinking about how binders are so durable, and I was wondering how the University Store could go through so many of them in one year," said Weaver, an environmental studies and earth and environmental geoscience double major and studio art minor from Indiana, Pennsylvania. "It seems like they should last for longer than just one semester or one year."

Weaver's initial observation planted a seed that sprouted into the creation of a sustainable resource for W&L's campus called the W&L Exchange. The W&L Exchange is a community sharing hub where students, faculty and staff can donate surplus or nonessential items for other members of the campus community who can use them.

Weaver, who serves as a work study with W&L's Office of Sustainability, first sowed the seed by approaching her supervisor, Jane Stewart, the university's director of sustainability.

"Augusta has a ton of energy and a lot of ideas, and in the fall of 2022, we were discussing the type of things that she could really dig into with her work in our office," said Stewart. "She mentioned she had some items that she wouldn't end up needing and that others might be able to use. Her message was 'Can't we put these two things together, so I don't have to throw good items in the trash, and someone else won't have to go buy something new?'"

The timing proved fortuitous; Information Technology Services was relocating from Davis Hall and had an entire supply closet of items they no longer needed. Stewart received a call from Lisa Dunlap, ITS operations and budget management coordinator, who posed a question about whether another area of campus could use the supplies rather than discarding them. No space existed to house the surplus items, so Stewart contacted Hugh Latimer, then university planner and architect. Latimer suggested utilizing the former Executive Committee board room located in the Early-Fielding building. The space wasn't conducive for a traditional office or classroom due to its large U-shaped desk fixed in the middle of the room. However, the room's location was a good drop off spot, and the desk made for a sizeable display area.

"We started with the inventory from ITS," said Stewart. "We then put out a call to other offices to let them know the Exchange was now an alternative to the landfill. We received hundreds of binders from the President's Office leftover from the days when Board of Trustees meetings included individual binders for each member. The binders were often left behind after meetings and had just been taking up space. They were in pristine condition, but I wondered how we would ever get rid of all of them. It turns out they are in high demand. We are constantly going through binders!"

Low Risk. Low Effort. High Reward

The Exchange officially opened in the Winter 2023 with the simple premise of "get rid of what you don't need, pick up what you do."

"We called it the Exchange because we wanted to emphasize that this is a space where people can bring items to donate but also grab whatever they need," Weaver said. "It is important to understand, however, that you don't have to give something to get something."

Marcos Perez, associate professor of sociology, is among the faculty who has directly benefited from the Exchange. When he needed to organize an archive of nearly 15,000 news articles for a research project, he was about to place a large order for binders. Then a colleague told him about the Exchange.

"I ended up getting all the things I needed there, saving a lot of money for my department and reusing resources," Perez said. "The Exchange is a great option both economically and environmentally."

The inventory changes constantly, but visitors can typically find binders, desk organizers, file folders, lamps, staplers and office supplies of all kinds. Dorm decor items like mirrors and storage cubes are also frequently available.

"Any basic office supply items move really fast," Stewart said. "We'll frequently get boxes of binder clips, paper clips, staplers, tape dispensers - things like that. Those are always gone pretty much immediately."

Some of the more unusual inventory has come from the Mock Convention. After the last one, the sustainability staff salvaged decorations from the parade floats rather than seeing them end up in dumpsters.

"When we brought them into the Exchange, we thought, how long is this going to sit here?" Stewart said. "But there's actually a high demand for items like party decorations or flowers - and that's really fun."

Even the quirkiest items find homes. Stewart recalled a decorative plate from Egyptian Airlines that she assumed would sit on the shelf indefinitely.

"Sure enough, some students came in during first-year orientation week, and one of them was just really excited about the plate becoming part of the decor for their new room," she said.

The Exchange operates almost like a library for some items. Need inflatable palm trees for a beach party? Borrow them, then bring them back for someone else to use.

"You can come and take the palm trees for your beach party and then bring them back if you don't need them anymore," Stewart said. "And then somebody else can use them."

Lisa D'Amelio, associate director of Lifelong Learning, generally visits the Exchange monthly.

"This is the first place that I will look when I'm 'shopping' for something we need in our office," she said. "We've acquired lamps, folders, file cabinet dividers and metal folder organizers. Check it out, you'll be surprised at what you'll find there. And bonus, it's all free!"

Haiden Lancaster, a university counselor, discovered the Exchange when her office was located in Early-Fielding. The experience changed how she thinks about acquiring supplies.

"It makes me more likely to seek out supplies or materials from other sources before purchasing it new," Lancaster said. "It's also just a good reminder that not everything has to be new in order to be useful."

For colleagues who haven't visited, Lancaster has a simple pitch.

"I would say that it's low risk, low effort and high reward," she said. "If they find what they need, they've saved their time, money and a trip to the store."

Stop By

The Exchange is located in Early-Fielding 121 and is staffed almost entirely by student workers. Hours for Winter Term 2026 are noon to 1 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 9-10:30 a.m. and 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Appointments can also be made by emailing Stewart or Weaver. A current inventory list, updated bi-weekly, is available on the sustainability office website under "How to Use the W&L Exchange."

"People shouldn't feel like they need to have a really specific desire or something crucial that they're looking for," Stewart said. "It's okay to make an appointment to just pop in."

Donations can be dropped off along the wall outside Early-Fielding 121 anytime. The Exchange accepts clean items in good and working condition - office supplies, school supplies, event materials, dorm accessories and hobby items. There's even a healthy selection of coffee makers and brand-new coffee mugs.

Items with university asset tags should be coordinated with Facilities or ITS first, and clothing donations should go to the Clothes Closet in Elrod Commons.

The Exchange space also includes an e-waste drop-off for disposing of electronics through the Office of Sustainability's e-waste recycling program.

Stewart notes that the Exchange isn't intended to serve as a replacement for Lexington community resources such as Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity. Members of the university community are encouraged to continue donating unused household items to those organizations, but items that could be useful for the campus community are not discouraged.

"We're happy to accept those items because the end goal is to avoid having those items end up in the landfill," said Stewart. "But if someone is cleaning their garage and thinking about whether they should take items to Habitat or Goodwill, I would suggest sending it to the community resource first unless they know the item is something that will be particularly useful in the university setting."

With Early-Fielding slated for demolition to make way for the construction of Founders Hall, the Exchange's physical space will change. Work is on-going to secure a new, centralized location for the program to continue to flourish for many years to come.

For Weaver, nothing could be more pleasing.

"When you think about leaving this place, you always want to leave a bit of a legacy," she said. "We've been slowly growing and every year it seems new people learn about what we are doing here. I'm grateful for what we've been able to accomplish so far, and I'm encouraged that this will become an even bigger presence on campus in the coming years."

For more information about the Exchange and the university's robust sustainability initiatives, visit the Sustainability Office website.