Finding a workshop related to fiber crafts (knitting, sewing, crochet … etc.) is as easy as pie, no matter the area you live in, but what about recycling those computer chips and metal hangers? Spotted recently on the ReadyMade blog, the groovy green handiworkers of the Bay Area have started the Made From Scrap company, a workshop warehouse “designed and built by artists, instructors, and students, those who want to learn, investigate, tinker, recycle, teach, meet, and have fun.”

Made From Scrap’s first set of workshops have been announced, which start in mid-September. Their offerings include: from plastic bags to kites, from bottle caps to coffee table, from pallets to birdhouses, and many more. You’re asked to bring your own materials (a specific list is included on each workshop’s registration page), and the instruction itself is affordable, ranging from $25-30 each.

Being a new establishment, they are currently looking for a variety of workshop ideas and local teachers - no matter your skills or ideas, they can be integrated into a fun, useful, and eco-based project for others to learn from. According to the organization’s website, “because the only criteria we have for our workshops is that they focus on re-using objects, imagination is the only limit!” If you want people to reduce how much they purchase and reuse what they already have (or can find in second-hand stores and yard sales), you have to give them the hands-on knowledge and resources they need to learn how to do so.

Not only is this establishment a great chance for your average consumer (crafty or otherwise) to learn about the breadth of recycling options, it initiates the possibility for workshops like these to be organized and promoted all across the US, as well as the world - I could easily see these types of classes booming in Europe. With the crafty, Do It Yourself movement becoming a true staple in our society, I’m quite sure that this is a key market to be embraced if we want to have any hope of surviving on this planet for the next few centuries. Very few will doubt that our lives are far too complex and busy to be truly enjoyed, so taking the time out to nurture and preserve our resources, as well as our creative inclinations, will not only help our ecosystem, but our spirit as well.