Are you
looking for resources or field trips to encourage our youth in exploring ways
to “protect our common world”? I have some thoughts and ideas for you. While most
of the facilities I will mention are in Edmonton, Alberta and area, many communities
have similar local organizations that you can access.
We all know
the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra that has been a part of our society for
quite some time now. What may be more challenging is helping our members find
ways to apply that in real life, and through our programs. As I write this, the
Program Platform is down for its September re-start, but Girl Guides of Canada’s
Pinterest site is available and has a whole board called “Protect
the Planet”. This is a great place to start to generate ideas.
Themed
meetings are always a fun way to explore a given topic, and this is no
exception. For example, one meeting could be devoted to home care and such,
creating environmentally friendly cleaning products, repurposing items to make
a hydroponic herb garden or a ready to plant seed starter. There are a lot of
pins and ideas around Climate Change too, and that could easily fill a meeting.
But how
about taking things further? The City of Edmonton ReUse
Centre offers all sorts of FREE materials to repurpose, reuse or upcycle.
Their mandate is to keep things out of the landfill, and they will weigh
whatever you take, to keep a record of what has been achieved to that end. The
ReUse Centre also offers DIY Thursdays, free workshops featuring
local experts that focus on building skills to help you reduce waste! Past DIY
Thursdays have included: Bike repair workshops, gardening workshops and sewing. They also have a workshop
space available free of charge to any group that supports waste
reduction and reuse education. This opens the possibility of a Unit holding their
meeting there and exploring the possibilities of upcycling on the spot!
Hodge
Podge Lodge, in Sherwood Park, is a similar though smaller facility. Again,
your finds are weighed before you leave. As well as offering free items to
reuse or repurpose, Hodge Podge Lodge may offer opportunities for our youth to
engage in volunteering and gaining some service hours. Youth must be at
least 13 years old to apply. A parent is required to volunteer alongside 13-
and 14-year-olds (Pathfinders), but those over 15 (Rangers) can volunteer by
themselves.
Habitat for
Humanity ReStores offer another way to thrift or reuse. Habitat ReStore is
a social enterprise retailer that accepts and resells donations of new and used
furniture, appliances, décor, and home improvement building materials. All
profits from their operations fund Habitat for Humanity. Want an outing to
price out the cost of outfitting and decorating a dorm room or apartment? This would
be an excellent field trip for Pathfinders and Rangers armed with notebooks and
calculators. Besides the big ticket items, ReStore shoppers can often find small
treasures such as cookbooks, jewelry, craft or school supplies at reasonable
prices. It’s like a big treasure hunt!
A different sort of opportunity is presented by Blenderz Garment Recyclers.
The primary focus here addresses the huge problem of discarded clothing into
landfills. Every year billions of pounds of clothing and textiles end up in
landfills here and more often, overseas. What a great discussion to have,
particularly with our teen members, to whom clothes can be a significant
interest. Blenderz’ mission is to reclaim and recycle excess clothing,
fabrics and textiles from the public, charities and businesses. They do this by
disrupting the linear model that the textile industry is operating under and
instead moving toward a closed loop system. They resell, repair, remake and
reteach! They believe that we are capable of dealing with our textile waste
problem right here in Alberta. Textile “waste” can be a useful resource in the
right hands. Their vision is to recycle, reclaim and upcycle textiles locally
to help alleviate the huge negative impact that textile waste has on millions
of people. As well as offering second hand clothing and all sorts of textiles
for sale by the pound, Blenderz also has a “boutique” of upcycled one-of-a-kind
items created by local makers, kits for you to make your own items like duffle
bags, rugs, etc. They also offer classes and workshops for all sorts of things
from basic “how to sew” to making one-of-a-kind garments to weaving from
recycled materials. These have a cost associated with them. I recently spoke
with the owner (who is a former Guide/Pathfinder!) and she was delighted with
the idea of Guiding groups touring the facility, offering age-and-cost
appropriate workshops for Units, and providing volunteer opportunities for our
older members who may be looking for service projects and volunteer hours.
Other opportunities for upcycling, recycling and thrifting abound.
Years ago, the Guide Law included “A Guide is thrifty.” But it was discontinued,
and Guiders were told this was because the Guides didn’t know the word anymore.
“Thrift” has come back into vogue, whether as a word or a lifestyle choice, and
it is certainly worth exploring with our Units in creative and practical ways.
I hope you will check out your local resources and take advantage of the low
cost and free opportunities that abound!
s