No Such Thing as Trash

I am sitting with my two-year-old watching The Wonder Pets. "What's gonna work?" Well, in addition to teamwork, on this particular episode it's recycling. Giving things a new purpose is one of my favorite concepts, and as a result I have found myself collecting all kinds of trash. Except it won't be trash for long: Soon it will be art!

My oldest son's pre-K teacher inspired the idea when she sent home a note asking parents to bring in plastic bottle tops for an upcoming art project for the students. So, I started my bottle top collection. But soon I thought to myself, "Hey, why not save the tops to other containers as well?" Surely some creative pre-school or elementary teacher in my area can find a fun use for them.

My middle son's pre-school teacher collects magazines to use in helping her students learn to use scissors. So I save magazines for this purpose. And cardboard tubes left over from toilet paper and paper towels rolls for any crafty person in my area who might have a need for them. You can find these people on The Freecycle Network. Back when my boys were eating baby food, I saved the jars and lids, not knowing what I was going to do with them but hating to throw them out because they had to be good for something. After a quick post to my local Freecycle, I almost immediately discovered that a local Boy Scout troup had an ongoing need for them.

And more recently I've begun collecting aluminum can tabs. And cut-out tops and bottoms from tin cans (the circular part cut out with a can opener). These are for some anticated craft projects of my own. If you live close to me, I would greatly appreciate your saving these tabs and circles for me.

I think it may be true that there really is no such thing as trash!