Furniture Fest & Couchella

Amount Awarded: $22,497.96 

Academic Year: 2022-2023 

Implementation: Summer 2023 – Summer 2024

Full Application: Link

Categories: Campus and CommunityEngagement Student Life Waste

Furniture Fest is a program aimed at combating furniture waste that accumulates in the spring when students start moving out of their off-campus housing by collecting furniture, refurbishing it, and redistributing it out to future students, free of charge. 

The ultimate goal of this grant was to provide support in institutionalizing Furniture Fest as a permanent program on campus. The team first applied for funding in the 2021-2022 academic year, and after a wildly successful summer, applied again to keep this project going for two more years as they begin to look for permanent funding.  

The project offers students many opportunities like student employment, an outlet where they can donate and/or receive furniture, and an event named “Couchella” where students can obtain furniture while enjoying live music, games, food, and learning about the many sustainable focused clubs offered at Western and in Bellingham.