Wooden rock boxes that once traveled across Antarctica are finding new purposes through a collaboration between the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center’s Polar Rock Repository (PRR) and Facilities Operations and Development Recycling and Refuse Services.

The boxes begin their journey at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, where they are built and used to transport supplies for researchers working in the field. As those supplies are used, the boxes are repurposed to carry rock samples collected across Antarctica back to researchers’ home institutions. Many eventually make their way to the PRR along with donated samples.

After traveling thousands of miles and serving Antarctic researchers, the boxes often no longer have a use once they arrive at the repository. Rather than sending them to the landfill, the PRR has worked with FOD Recycling and Refuse Services to find new homes and creative uses for the boxes.

The boxes have since been repurposed into bookshelves, garden beds and other projects, extending their useful life while giving members of the Ohio State community the opportunity to own a small piece of polar research history.

“The PRR’s ultimate goal is making Antarctic Earth science more accessible and sustainable,” said Erica Maletic, curator of the Polar Rock Repository. “The rock boxes aren’t just a vessel for samples, but a little bit of Antarctic history.”

The effort reflects the same spirit of reuse that is central to the PRR’s work. Just as existing rock samples can support new research without requiring another trip to Antarctica, finding new uses for the boxes keeps valuable materials out of the waste stream and gives them a new purpose.

Read more about this story on the Facilities Operations and Development website.