reDiscover is a Refreshing Solution

Out with the old, in with the new…it’s nice to clear out and refresh (spark joy and what not). The start of a new year brings in extra motivation, right? But how and where do we responsibly get rid of the old stuff? This question inevitably comes up every time we clean out our materials library (our space devoted to samples of tiles, stone, hardware, wood, etc.) at the SweisKloss office. A library cleaning “party” had to be done.

We love seeing and getting new samples from manufacturers. As designers, there’s the obvious fun factor, but we need to stay current with innovative design, sustainable improvements, and new materials. Samples are also shown to our clients to help convey and visualize our concepts. However, when these materials are discontinued or out of date, we are left with stacks of samples that need to be tackled, weeding out the unusable ones.

Over the years we have come up with resourceful ways to be more sustainable when eliminating items. We have had staff and other artists take pieces to up-cycle, we’ve given back to manufacturers to recycle, we’ve donated to various art organizations, and recently, we found an architectural salavage warehouse to take the rest of our items, which is really exciting! One of our favorite places to donate is reDiscover, a center whose mission is “to develop children’s creativity through hands-on making with sustainable materials.”

reDiscover was founded in 2003 by a group of individuals and education-focused agencies in the Santa Monica and Venice areas. They wanted to create a way to receive and donate waste and scraps that could be used as viable art materials. Gaining momentum with this concept, they expanded their mission to provide creative reuse materials for educational art programs for children. In 2010, reDiscover began running summer camps with an emphasis on learning how to safely use intensive tools—drills, clamps, handsaws, chop saws, and jigsaws—to build creations made from reclaimed wood and other scraps.

We recently took a couple trips to reDiscover, and they happily accepted many of our items. This also afforded us an opportunity to check out one of the workshops going on that day. The children were highly engaged and focused. Although, one girl stopped long enough to tell us about the birdhouse she was building and how it was a surprise for her parents! There was no mistaking the pride and excitement in her voice.

Today, reDiscover offers creative programming to over 11,000 youth and nearly 6,000 adults. They work with more than 40 L.A. schools, libraries, museums, community centers, social service agencies, and parks departments. To learn more about this great organization, click here.