MSU Shadows gives Spartan lovers an opportunity to take a piece of campus home with them in the form of carved wood.
MSU has about 300 trees that come down on campus each year, according to Dan Brown from the MSU Department of Forestry. Most of the wood from those trees are sold or just go to waste.
The Department of Forestry, W.J. Botanical Gardens, and MSU Surplus store have created the MSU Shadows collection where trees that come down on campus are taken to the lumber yard and are milled and dried by students in the program.
"Traditionally, (old trees) are burned, chipped or sold off as firewood and we realized that there is a higher value for this resource," said Brown.
The lumber is given to different artisans who transform the lumber into pieces like furniture, pens, etchings, wine bottle stoppers, coasters, diploma frames and more.
"The pinnacle of that were doing is that alumni and other fans of MSU get to take a piece of campus home with them, so they get heirloom quality furniture that is made from wood here on campus from a tree they may have sat underneath, studied underneath, or there have been proposals underneath these trees on campus," said Brown.
Click here to view a complete gallery of MSU Shadows items.
The program began sales began in December 2015. Items can be purchased at the MSU Surplus store at 468 Green Way, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 on Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m or online at www.msusurplusstore.com.
