Recycle, America!



nrc-recycle.org flag imageDedicated to encouraging people to recycle and to buy recycled products, America Recycles Day (ARD) is celebrated each year on November 15. In 1997, the Recycling Alliance of Texas created a statewide campaign to emphasize the economic benefits of reducing waste and recycling. A year later, the National Recycling Coalition sponsored the first America Recycles Day.

Now on ARD, millions of Americans attend school and community events to celebrate. In addition to encouraging people to collect recyclables, sponsors promote reducing and reusing materials. By reducing, reusing, and recycling, Americans can save energy, natural resources, and landfill space. In addition, the practices help reduce air and water pollution, and they can slow global warming.

flat stanleyVisit the National Recycling Coalition's Web site to learn more about recycling, take the Recycling Pledge, and find special ARD events that are taking place in your area. Also, be sure to see The Imagination Factory's Trash Matcher and The Flat Stanley Project, which are linked from our main page. Both were created in honor of America Recycles Day. And don't forget to visit our artists' professional showcase, The Green Gallery. There you can see and buy a variety of art and fine crafts created from scrap, or work made by reusing materials.
What's In This Issue

Fall 2008

A inviting 






place for teachers

A vent 






fan is a necessity

Little Red Schoolhouse

Creative Scrap Exchanges

A scrap exchange is a facility that collects materials from businesses, industries, and individuals and provides them to the public free of charge or at little cost. Participating in such a program keeps preconsumer and postconsumer waste out of landfills, and it gives teachers and others a ready source of materials to use in creating art and crafts. The following is a description of a scrap exchange that's sponsored by the solid waste management facility in our county.

The Little Red Schoolhouse

The Little Red Schoolhouse is a small storage barn located at the recycling center in Columbus, Indiana. Employees at the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District decided to collect clean, solid waste and make the scrap materials available for free to teachers and others who work with kids. The materials are kept in the small barn. Standing next to The Little Red Schoolhouse in the photo above is Bartholomew County Recycling Educator Greg Hartwell.

Our scrap exchange has been open since 1998. According to Hartwell, a grant was written and submitted to a local foundation in order to receive the funding needed to pay for the 14' x 20' storage shed. The shelves used for holding various materials were donated by local businesses and individuals. There is no heat in the building, but a fan installed at one end near the ceiling helps circulate air in warmer months.

In order to start the scrap exchange and to collect preconsumer and postconsumer waste, leaders of businesses and industries were sent invitations to attend an open house. At the function, they were able to see the storage shed, and to learn how their companies could donate much needed materials, such as paper and cardboard. They also discovered how their participation would help educators save money, and keep solid waste out of the landfill.

little 






red schoolhouse shelvingNow county residents and people from various businesses and industries deliver preconsumer and postconsumer waste to The Little Red Schoolhouse, and the facility's workers place the materials on shelves in the building. Anyone who works with children is welcome to visit the schoolhouse and select materials, free of charge. Some of those who take advantage of the service are teachers, scout leaders, parents who homechool their children, and members of not-for-profit organizations


The building is open three days a week during the recycling center's regular business hours. The Little Red Schoolhouse is brimming with free materials and possibilities. Items that are available vary from time to time, but the following are some scrap materials that are usually on hand. Also included are a few ideas of what can be made from them.

This - to this!*
Greeting cards
-origami-style boxes, cut out motifs and decoupage, Christmas tree ornaments, new greeting cards
*Cardboard tubes-puppets, dinosaurs, tube sculptures, rain sticks, kaleidoscopes
*Adding machine rolls-cartoon strips and drawing, papermaking
*Books-book safes, presses, papermaking
*Coffee cans-containers, luminaries, musical instruments
*Oatmeal boxes-containers, drums, gift wrap containers
*Pringle cans-containers, kaleidoscopes, rain sticks
*Paper egg cartons-puppet heads or other papier mache applications, creature bodies, monster eyes, sculptures
*Wooden berry baskets-containers, Easter baskets, decoupage
*Polystyrene egg cartons-rain stick (insides), printmaking, creature bodies, plaster casting
*Cardboard-bookmaking, sculpture, printmaking, collage
*Magazines-collages, beads, decoupage, reference photos, origami, wrapping paper
*Telephone books-shredded scarecrow, origami, wrapping paper, painting/gluing surface
*Wallpaper sample books-collage, book arts, greeting cards, art paper, drawing boards
*Laundry scoops-containers, Christmas tree ornaments
*Yarn-stitchery, weaving, soda straw weaving, puppet hair
*Fabric scraps-puppet and doll clothes, covering for books and boxes, collages, quilts
*Small tape rolls-printmaking, sculpture, house building
*Net produce bags-tie dye, stenciling, printmaking
*Shoe boxes-dioramas and parade floats
*Baby food jars-storage and snowglobes
*Containers of all shapes and sizes-storage, papier mache and candlesticks
*Paper and envelopes of all kinds-drawing, painting, printmaking, collage
*Cardboard, paperboard sheets and paper sacks-general crafts and paper sculpture
*Visit the Bartholomew County Recycling Center and Solid Waste Management District online.
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by Marilyn J. Brackney

Newsletters Archived by Topic

The link above will allow access to dozens of Imagination Factory art activities and articles that appear in all newsletters.

world hands

Colored Glue

nrc-recycle.org flag image

Since glue is used to stick things together, you may wonder why you'd would want to color it. Nobody will see it anyway, right? Well, most of the time, but not always. Glue can be more than an adhesive. Sometimes it's fun to make it a part of the art. White glue comes in squeezable bottles with narrow openings, so it's easy to draw with it.






You'll need:

How To:

White glue dries clear, but the following is an easy way to color it. Reusing the spongy, felt-like tips of old markers will help save money and keep them out of the landfill.

Tips and Tricks:

Rather than using an entire bottle of glue, color one that's ½ or ¾ full. You'll need to leave some space for the marker tips, and it will be easier to shake or stir if the bottle's not full.

Challenge yourself to make a contour drawing of a person's face or an object. In creating such a drawing, the pencil, or in this case, the glue, is applied in one, unbroken line.

Buy glue in large containers, such as quart bottles. When your smaller bottles run low, refill them with glue from the bigger container. Refilling smaller bottles, instead of buying new ones, will help save landfill space.

Elmer's is a well known brand of white glue. Join Elmer's Glue Crew to learn how you can help keep glue bottles out of landfills.


Leftovers:

cardboard baleThis giant bale of paper and cardboard weighs 2,162 pounds, and it will be sent to a recycling company where it will be made into new materials. How many trees will be saved by recycling just this one bale? Send your answer to us at kidatart@kid-at-art.com. The person who is the first to submit a figure that's closest to the correct answer will win a great prize! The contest will close on November 20, 2008. Greg Hartwell, Bartholomew County Recycling Educator, will determine the winner.
Since recycling 128 pounds saves one tree, recycling just this one bale of paper and cardboard will save a total of 16.89 trees.



Congratulations
to Imagination Factory Member Phil H. of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida who came closest to answering our recycling quiz in this month's contest. Phil will receive a set of mug mats created by Green Gallery artist Chris Gustin.