ASU faculty, staff and departments are learning to be more sustainable with a new Web site that allows department members to exchange items by posting them online.
The Web site, SunSET, Sun (Devils) Surplus Exchange and Transfer, will allow for the re-use of smaller items, like binders and paperclips.
“It’s essentially like a Craigslist for departments,” said John Chapman, the developer of the Web site and systems analyst associate for Business Applications and Fiscal Control.
The Web site first launched in July, although he and others have been working on it for a couple months, he said.
“The other departments can share amongst themselves what normally wouldn’t be sold to the public,” Chapman said.
Jeremy Gonzalez, chair of the University Staff Council Sustainability Committee, said he met with Bonny Bentzin, ASU’s manager of university sustainability practices, to discuss ideas for the Web site.
Gonzalez said he was involved in promoting the Web site.
He said departments can post what they need and what they don’t want on the site.
“The main goal is to avoid waste … so departments with extra supplies don’t have to throw them away,” Gonzalez said.
Bentzin said the idea came up because she wanted to help the University use its resources wisely and keep its costs down.
“This program saves money in two ways,” Bentzin said. “Any tonnage that we can divert is saved in our waste disposal cost.”
Also, departments can exchange items for free, although some can also be sold, she said.
Bentzin said she thinks the Web site will be successful among faculty and staff, but it needs to be made more public first in order to test the site.
“I hope they want to use it for a number of reasons — to help divert waste, to help do the right thing,” she said.
Bentzin said ASU is the second school to create such a program.
“Unfortunately, we would’ve been the first but University of Florida launched it a week before us,” she said.
Kerry Suson, director of Surplus Properties, is the caretaker and moderator of the Web site.
He said the Web site doesn’t cost anything for ASU.
“There’s no cost other than the time it takes … it’s all internal,” Suson said.
The Web site was created by ASU personnel and may see some gradual changes in the future.
The Web site can be found at www.asu.edu/sunset.
Most of the current posted items are from Bonny Bentzin, although the Human Resources Department has also posted other items they don’t want so far.
Reach the reporter at
reweaver@asu.edu
