Ever wished you had access to spare batteries or another water bottle after you’ve misplaced yours? The ROSE Room is where you might find your luck. The Reusable Office Supply Exchange, located in Prince Lutheran Campbell Hall in room 182, can be hard to find but rewarding to explore. Stumbling across the ROSE Room is reminiscent of finding hidden treasure: This gem is a resource used by few but loved by those who are familiar with the program.
The ROSE Room has been in operation since 1992. The program existed originally as a sort of “staff closet” where faculty would donate used office supplies that they no longer needed but didn’t want to throw away. The resource helped prevent still-operable office supplies from filling up landfills.
Now operated by the UO Student Sustainability Center, the ROSE Room is a resource available to all students. The program has recently undergone some changes to improve its efficiency, as well as beautification.
Because the campus is heavily digitized now, there wasn’t a lot of need for the old supplies. Physical office supplies such as folders, file cabinets and computer mouses had taken up the majority of the space in the ROSE Room. These weren’t in especially high demand in recent years, according to Josefina Cruz, reusables and waste reduction lead at the SSC.
Seeing this reality, the SSC overhauled the ROSE Room, remodeling, painting the area, and getting specific about the materials that they wanted to prioritize — things that would be helpful for students, such as dorm decorations, but also things that students often overlook, such as batteries, water bottles and more.
In her role, Cruz oversees the maintenance and operation of the ROSE Room with the assistance of volunteers. Being in the position for about a year and a half, she was present through the remodeling of the ROSE Room. “We want the space to be more inviting, and have more things you would actually need,” she said.
Cruz recounts an instance where a GE came into the ROSE Room on the day they reopened and was super excited to see that the space was available again. Aside from that, she was grateful for the renovation of the space and Cruz’s outlook on the future of the program. “She left saying ‘I’m gonna go tell all my students about this!’” Cruz said. “That’s the biggest way of getting this outreach is word of mouth.”
In the future, Cruz hopes to create more momentum around the program by bolstering donations through supply drives and continuing to get the word out about the program. “I feel like most people don’t know we’re here, and that’s the biggest overtaking is letting people know, this is free,” Cruz said.
As we’re entering the end of the school year, Cruz encourages those who are moving out of the dorms to consider donating their unwanted room materials or school supplies to the ROSE Room. It can be a great way to prevent waste and support a program that has the capacity to support the community of faculty and students at the UO.
Cruz is optimistic about the future of the ROSE Room and is looking forward to continuing to support her community. “It makes me really happy when someone even comes and gets a water bottle because that’s one more person I’ve helped,” she said.
