
The Giving Trees
Stanford’s on-site milling program transforms fallen limbs into campus benches and student art–providing the campus community a sustainable alternative to imported lumber.
Since 2007, Stanford has competed in the Campus Race to Zero Waste, a nationwide competition for colleges and universities to reduce waste, and has regularly ranked second or first. Over an eight-month period, waste and recycling data is compared amongst over 150 colleges and universities. In 2024, Stanford placed second in both the Per Capita Recycling and the Food Organics categories for large universities, demonstrating its commitment to waste reduction and diversion. This year the competition collectively prevented the release of 23,174 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the annual emissions from over 5.500 cars.

Stanford’s on-site milling program transforms fallen limbs into campus benches and student art–providing the campus community a sustainable alternative to imported lumber.

“Swap shelves” make reusing items easy and convenient–saving money & supporting Stanford’s waste reduction goal.

The university’s new purchasing guidelines help make the smarter and more sustainable option the easier one.