Free creative resource for families to reduce household waste
Waste is not always associated with creativity – but a Knowle West organisation has just released a magazine to help families reduce household waste in fun and inventive ways.
Arts charity, Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) launched the ReThink ReMake ReCycle magazine to coincide with Global Recycling Day this week.
The online publication includes a range of tutorials, activities and puzzles -inspired by a recent project at the organisation’s innovation and making space – KWMC The Factory.
Some 48 South Bristol residents took part in online workshops to look at the scale and environmental impact of common household waste materials -such as paper and plastics.
Working with The Factory team and designer Lisa Cole, they also looked more closely at the kind of materials they threw away.
The sessions focused on three themes:
- ReThink: think carefully about how we can reduce or repurpose our waste
- ReMake: make DIY alternatives that are reusable or use more sustainable materials
- ReCycle: recycle our waste, turning it into useful materials and objects
Ideas included using delivery packaging for wrapping paper, making your own household cleaners and turning paper and magazines into storage baskets.
Artist Lisa Cole said: ” I was so happy to be included in KWMC’s The Factory’s ReThink, ReMake, ReCycle project.
“Even though we had just gone into lockdown, they kept going, sending out amazing boxes of materials to participants and letting me teach design thinking online, which is a way of solving problems by asking questions and using whatever is to hand to prototype…”
Digital Fabrication Technician at KWMC The Factory, Fiona Dowling, said: “…Through ReThink ReMake ReCycle it’s been great to create online spaces for discussion and sharing with local people: swapping creative ways to repurpose waste and working together to design some brilliantly wacky solutions for preventing waste in the first place!
“We’re delighted to share what we explored together in the digital zine and we hope people enjoy doing the activities at home.”
ReThink ReMake ReCycle is part of the Bristol+Bath Creative R+D Inclusion Programme and ParCos, an EU funded project exploring how we communicate and understand science stories.
Read or download the magazine
People can read the zine online or download a copy from the KWMC website for free. Visit: https://kwmc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ReThink-ReMake-ReCycle-Zine.pdf
You can find out more about ReThink ReMake ReCycle at www.kwmc.org.uk/projects/rethink-remake-recycle-waste/ or contact thefactory@kwmc.org.uk
