Store takes in discarded items for reuse by artists, teachers
About once a month, Mark Leasor plans a trip to Scrap4Art in Maumee.
The idea-lab coordinator at Imagination Station is looking for discarded wire, plastic disposable spoons, washers, bottle caps, corks, old electronics parts, and cardboard — the kinds of things that often end up in trash cans or recycling bins.
And he’s rarely disappointed, often leaving the recyclables store with two or three bags of materials for the lab, where children who visit the science museum stop to tinker and create and learn about science, technology, engineering and math. Kids recently made cardboard pinball machines and tops and balancing toys from recycled materials.
“We are making things that people can take home, and we are using a lot of our materials, but I can go deeper into the reusing and repurposing of items by buying things from Scrap4Art,” he said. “We can also have conversations around that, about the space in landfills and why we are making what we are making and what we are making it out of.
“They are wonderfully useful to us.”
The store has been around for about a decade, the brainchild of a handful of residents who wanted to create a venue for reusing and repurposing for teachers, Scout leaders, artists, and nonprofit organizations.
Evy Jarrett, 51, of Sylvania, was one of those people who opened the store in 2006 in downtown Toledo.
“It seemed like a logical solution to two different problems. At the time, there were substantial cuts to school art programs, and at the same time, there was an abundance of things going into the landfills, things that could be reused,” Jarrett said.
Americans generated about 254 million tons of garbage in 2013, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Of that, we composted, recycled, or repurposed just more than 34 percent, or 87 million tons. That garbage includes product packaging, clothing, bottles, paper, paint, glass and broken electronics — all things that show up at Scrap4Art in one form or another, said Barbara Mauntler, president of the Scrap4Art board.
“I love that the store stimulates creativity and that we are also helping the environment by keeping things out of the landfill,” she said. “A lot of teachers depend on us. Teachers spend a lot of money out of their pockets, especially for art supplies, so they are thrilled to come in and get supplies for pennies on the dollar.”
Adrienne Goldberg, 29, a seventh- and eighth-grade art instructor at McCord Junior High, recently used materials from the store to help seventh-graders make steampunk masks.
“I’ve found screws and parts of doorknobs and light bulbs and wires and old earbuds,” she said. “These kids are so excited about these treasures that someone else donated.”
The store hasn’t been without struggles. It moved from downtown Toledo to Maumee about four years ago to save on rent. With an annual budget of between $24,000 and $28,000 and inconsistent grant funding from the Ohio Arts Council and other public or private foundations, the store considered closing this year. Instead, it started a GoFundMe page, cut its operating hours, and came up with new fundraisers to stay afloat, Mauntler said.
“Our income has never met our expenses. We rely on donations and grants to make up the difference,” she said, noting that it is usually about $4,000 to $5,000 short at the end of each year. “We really struggle.”
But to stay true to their movement, they march on, taking donations from residents, searching for volunteers, and promoting different ways to use discarded materials.