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By Explore Ecology
The average American creates 4.9 pounds of trash daily and 82 pounds of textile waste each year. How can we transition from a throwaway society to a regenerative one that repairs, repurposes, upcycles, and connects?
Turn Food Waste Into Treasure
In 34 Explore Ecology school gardens, students learn to close the loop on waste and grow food organically. Cafeteria scraps and green waste are added to worm bins and transformed into nutrient-rich vermicompost.
- Become a Worm Wrangler: It’s easy and fun to build a worm bin at home and make compost with the help of your local FBI: Fungi, Bacteria, and Invertebrates! Learn how at ExploreEcology.org/school-garden-program.
- Compost Creatively: Use your vermicompost in garden beds, or make “tea” by adding a handful of compost to a bucket of water. Pour into the soil around plants to introduce beneficial organisms, improve water retention, and increase plant and soil health.
Be a Greener Gardener
- Water Wisely: Explore Ecology school gardens use drip irrigation to reduce water waste. Do the same and watch your plants thrive as your water bill decreases.
- Magical Mulch: Chop and drop as you prune and use trimmings, leaves, and other organic material to cover bare soil, keep moisture in, and minimize weeds.
- Save Seeds: Let some of your favorite plants go to seed. Start your own seed collection and trade your favorites with friends!
Consider a World-Friendly Wardrobe
- Mend Your Clothes, Mend the Planet: Learn how to repair, repurpose, and embellish your well-loved clothing at the Explore Ecology Makerspace monthly Sewing and Mending Club.
- Make Old Favorites New: Bring clothes back to vibrant life at an Explore Ecology natural dyeing workshop.
- Connect With a Clothes Swap: It’s fun to see friends and family wearing your stuff their way!
Sustainable Creativity
- Shop! Purchase your craft supplies at the Art From Scrap Creative Reuse Store and help divert thousands of pounds of material from local landfills yearly.
- Learn! Explore Ecology Makerspace workshops teach the art of creative reuse to artists of all ages. ExploreEcology.org/calendar
- Donate! Art From Scrap accepts materials that can be reused by community members and local classrooms as part of the School Materials Program.
Reducing waste while exploring the art of upcycling and creative reuse will positively impact your life, the community, and the planet!
With hundreds of thousands of student interactions every year, Explore Ecology educators impact the next generation in school gardens, in classrooms, and on field trips to the Watershed Resource Center and Art From Scrap. Not just for kids, Explore Ecology inspires all ages to express themselves creatively and participate in solutions to pollution. Explore Ecology is committed to inspiring a creative culture of environmental stewardship that will positively impact Santa Barbara County for years to come. Join us!
- Sign up for our newsletter
- Come to a Beach Cleanup or Coastal Cleanup Day
- Volunteer in a school garden
- Visit ExploreEcology.org
