I don't go dumpster diving nearly enough. And after my recent scrap searching adventure with Time Out NY, I vowed to go dumpster diving on a more frequent basis. Looking at what other people throw away is what inspired me to get into this business in the first place.
Having already quite the collection of scrap materials, I sometimes avoid walking past certain cool-looking types of scrap. I just don't have room to store everything with potential that I find. But I realized that I don't have to take everything home with me. I can encourage others to recycle, too. After all, that's what RePlayGround is all about - teaching other people that they're garbage can become great raw material for making new things.
So tonight a friend and I embarked on our first, in what I plan to make regular, Talkin' Trash adventure! The idea is to place handwritten notes on cool scrap materials and make suggestions for what they could be transformed into. Showing passersby what scrap materials can become if just looked at a little differently. An oversized planter can become a trash can. An old drawer can be turned on it's side to become a shelf. We started with a neat pile of metal spikey things. Those could become stakes to sections off a garden plot. And pretty pages from books can easily be turned into envelopes.
Stay tuned for more Talkin' Trash goodness coming your way. And who knows - you may just want to join in next time.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes. It's from Daniel Freitag of Freitag bags and he passed is on to me as I was researching my graduate thesis entitled Trash Nouveau.
"Waste is a natural resource in the wrong place. Change the place or the context and you have usable products."
6 comments:
That is a great idea. Sometimes, people just need a nudge to get their imagination working.
what a fabulous idea! : D
Cool idea! I just tried it out too! We have some old floppy disk boxes at the Reuse Centre that no one ever takes, so I put a sign on them suggesting they'd make great recipe boxes.... Hopefully they will be gone when I'm next there!
I adore dumpster diving, but I have absolutely no more room for treasures. I'm also getting a bit freaked out by the bed bug urban "myth." I love your idea of inspiring other people to take what you cannot.
I am copying this quote and adding it to my recycled cards- oh i am so happy i found your amazing blog!!!
If you ever want any desert "garbage"
just let me know and i will send you a package!
I think that chick holding the book looks like such a trashy recycler!
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