ReStore and Marketplace
How much does your lab spend annually on supplies?
We assume a substantial amount!
As such, we are hoping use the Green Labs Marketplace to allow labs to exchange equipment, chemicals, labware, and more FOR FREE to reduce lab spending!
You can use this Form to submit your submissions. Purchasing supplies? First, check out what is already available on our website! If you find something your lab can use, stop by the ReStore located at Alles 181 during our limited hours and pick it up for FREE. Yes, it's that easy!
Summer term hours for ReStore in Alles 181:
Mondays 10am - 2pm
Note: hours change every term depending on student schedules.
Green Labs ReStore and Marketplace
Green Labs is opening a Lab ReStore! We found a space in Alles 181 where we can exchange our surplus lab supplies! Stop by to chat, pick up goods, or drop off lab supplies (after filling out the online Marketplace Form, of course!).The ReStore will be student-run and open for only limited hours a week, or by appointment. The hours change every term depending on student schedules. Winter 2026 the hours are as follows:
- Drop off times: will be scheduled with labs after submission of the Marketplace Form
- Monday 10am-2pm
- By appointment: email [email protected] to schedule a time
Want to see if your items can be donated? Check out our checklists on the left for equipment or consumable donation requirements, and our chemical decision tree. At this time, we are asking labs to store their donated chemicals until they can be rehomed.
Since launching in March 2025, we have saved Caltech labs a whopping $200,000!
The problem: Labs purchase surplus or unused supplies which sit in lab spaces and waste space. Sharing resources reduces the need for purchasing new supplies, and labs that have a surplus or unused supply can divest those supplies and make space in their stockrooms! Furthermore, sharing resources minimizes waste by diverting usable materials from
As such, Green Labs aims to tackle this issue by developing a Green Labs Marketplace to exchange unnecessary lab supplies with labs that may need of those items.
Our plan: We have developed an online resource where labs can "shop" for supplies that other labs have posted, and have created an easy interface for labs to upload their unneeded supplies! Sarah Kumar, a dedicated volunteer with Green Labs, developed this online resource for us to use in late 2024 (with launch in early 2025), and has been instrumental in the development, debugging, and maintenance of this resource since then!
Update: Since launching in March 2025, the Green Labs Marketplace has saved labs $200,000+ on lab supplies, equipment, and chemicals!
In addition, the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility has picked up supplies from two different biotech companies who closed down in 2025, diverting and saving supplies from landfill worth over $15,000 for Caltech labs! Kudos to this amazing group of researchers, who consistently go above and beyond their typical duties, and show evidence that small efforts can make huge differences! Keep up the good work!!
Caltech community members find and rehome items on the Caltech Marketplace listserve (campus network or VPN required) and at the Caltech Women's Club casita exchange (email link), and donate laboratory equipment to schools and community colleges that need it, via the Laboratory Equipment Access Program (LEAP).
WiBBE x Green Labs Clothing Swap Program
In April 2026, our students collaborated with WiBBE to launch a Clothing Swap Event! We received over 215 donated items (weighing 52.5 kg) before and during the event, and at the end of the event we donated 105 items (weighing in at 27 kg!) to both the professional clothing drive run by the CaltechY and to the Women's Room from Pasadena's Friends in Deed organization.
Since this program was such a success, BBE agreed to let us run this pilot program for one year to see how it does. Collection bins are set up outside Alles 181 and in several undergraduate residences. Each quarter we'll host an event and swap items! After the event, we'll donate them to groups in need.