I just read about this great not for profit organization Trash for Teaching on The Scout blog in the L.A. Times. They collect donations of what they affectionately call “dumpster diamonds”. These are discarded materials from various manufacturers such as empty cardboard tubes and scraps of holographic paper. The beauty comes when these materials are put into the hands of children to use as art supplies. They do this through different services such as their Treasure Truck visits, school programs and even birthday parties.
Continue reading after the jump...
Trash for Teaching is a win-win-win organization. First, it helps reduce waste into landfills. Second, it helps teach children how to recycle and reuse. Finally, it teaches kids to be creative and brings art to their lives. They are a Los Angeles based organization but you can order some of their products online and the sales benefit the organization. The Bottle Vase is made from recycled industrial cylinders, and since all the materials are donated, there’s the added surprise of not knowing what color or pattern you will get. My favorite kit though is the CastaWays Construction Set. It’s like Tinkertoy for the new recycled generation.
It’s great to see people thinking outside of the (reduced, reused, recycled) box.
Images courtesy of Trash for Teaching
Comments