Why should I pay for trash?    All of Trash for Teaching’s materials are donated by manufacturers, so by purchasing our “trash”, you are actually purchasing our services.  We find, collect, sort, store and then re-distribute all of our beautiful materials that would otherwise be wasted in the landfill.  We would love to be able to give our “dumpster diamonds” away, but as a young organization, our funding sources are extremely limited, so we must cover some of our overhead by charging a nominal amount for these services that benefit the environment.
 
Where do you get your trash?   The majority of our beautiful and unique “dumpster diamonds” are donated to us by manufacturers.  Almost all of our materials were destined for landfill as they were considered unusable by the factory where they were produced. A small portion of our materials are donated by individuals or businesses who wish to give their surplus to an organization that will use their things for educational or artistic purposes.

This isn’t trash, why would anyone throw it away?

a)  Manufacturing requires products be generated in bulk. Rolls of newsprint are sold to printing factories weighing around 1200 pounds.  By the time they are donated to Trash for Teaching, they weigh around 10-20 pounds. (That’s about 1% of the original weight.)  A roll of newsprint that size is no longer productive for printing newspapers, but for a kindergarten teacher that same 20 pound roll of newsprint might last a classroom an entire year.
b)  The item has already served its purpose. Some of our materials such as plastic and cardboard cones, cores, and tubes were created to act as a spool for thread, fabric, ribbon, tubing or Mylar.  Since these items have already dispensed the material wrapped around it, it has already served its purpose and is of no value to manufacturing processes.
c)  Samples. The bright, colorful credit card-sized plastic chips, and 12” squared pieces of fabric we have were originally used as samples to demonstrate that particular product to a potential client of the manufacturer.
d)  Mass produced scraps.  We get the tail-ends of fabric, cardboard, upholstery, and foam that are odd shapes and sizes – perfect for a creative environment.
e)  Imperfections.  Clients of manufacturers expect perfection in the products they purchase.  Usually these “imperfections” aren’t detectible, or simply aren’t important to the rest of us.

Do you have field trips available? The Trash for Teaching office, studio and warehouse are located in the I Was Framed facility, a box factory.  Our space is not ideal for large numbers of children, that’s why we have the ever-so-mobile “Treasure Truck” that can go right to schools, museums, or other events.

Do you give workshops?  We offer workshops through Los Angeles County programs and LAUSD.

How does your program work?  Trash for Teaching offers a variety of services from materials delivery where children can make their own selections of materials, to professional development, to birthday parties.  Our primary mission is to encourage creative learning through our unconventional materials while diverting waste from the landfill.  We try to meet the individual needs of each school, preschool or district while using or mission as a guideline. See Services Tab

How can I help?

a)  Donate money > See Donations
b)  Donate your services – Trash for Teaching can always use the help of your business’ services such as printing, advertising, etc.
c)  Donate your time – Trash for Teaching needs volunteers to do a variety of things from materials collection and maintenance, to office work, to photo documentation of our progress, to assisting with workshops, special events and parties.  Please call or email us for specifics!
d) Donate materials – If you or your company would like to donate materials, please call us so that we can determine if it is clean and safe for children’s use. > See Donations

Does Trash for Teaching do birthday parties?  Yes we do! Trash for Teaching’s materials are fun in any environment.  Trash for Teaching offers creative projects that can be themed, based on your child’s party, or can be an open-ended discovery projects that will be a unique addition to any party.  See the Parties page or call us for more information!

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