Sydney Craft Week
RESPONSE: Treasure from Trash
Reverse Garbage in Marrickville is a creative reuse centre making a difference by reducing waste and changing the way we look at resources. The organisation was founded in 1975 by a group of teachers and community workers who wanted to ease pressure on the environment by diverting industrial discards from landfill and reusing those materials in their classrooms. More than 50 years on, Reverse Garbage inspires and supports kids, adults, artists, students, teachers and community groups to consume less, make more, save money – and feel good doing it!
During Sydney Craft Week Reverse Garbage has workshops for everyone. Kooky Characters is a free, casual drop-in session perfect for all ages, bringing your imagination to life using zero waste building techniques. Reclaimed Woodblock Printing participants will discover how to use upcycled wood to create bold and expressive prints, and Indigo Dye Day is all about how to use stitching and no-sew techniques to create patterns with indigo dye.
How many years have you participated in Sydney Craft Week and what do you enjoy about it?
Reverse Garbage has been involved since the first Sydney Craft Week in 2017 hosting workshops facilitated by reuse crafters and artists. We love the opportunity to showcase reuse in making – using industrial and commercial discards, materials that you really can’t find anywhere else but RG and therefore help crafters and artists create truly individual pieces. I love browsing the SCW event pages and catalogue – discovering new makers and connecting with people whose work you may have only seen online. Planning the weekend for a crafty tour around Sydney is also fun and inspiring.
How has Reverse Garbage responded to the SCW theme, RESPONSE?
We receive such a variety of materials here we are always “responding to”. How can they be used, where did this come from? We only use donated materials in our Sustainability Education Programs – we go to schools or they come to us, so students and educators are always responding to materials in these programs. One of our most popular is Sustainable House where students of all ages are invited to create their ideal sustainable house from RG’s reuse resources. I’m looking forward to hosting the Indigo Dye workshop – it's my response to revitalising clothing creatively with a dye bath – extending the life of clothing so you keep and wear it longer. The best part is sharing the event with community who will all have wonderful “new” pieces that now have story to them.
What skills will participants learn in the upcoming workshops?
My favourite workshop is the Reclaimed Woodblock Printing with Fergus. I’ve done this workshop before and one participant arrived with an old fan blade to carve into. The results were amazing and really showcases that you can experiment with such a variety of materials you may already have or can buy cheaply from reuse centres. This year we are also excited to have a kids drop in for the Kooky Characters session to inspire our next generation or reuse sustainable crafters.
What’s your favourite reusable craft material that makers and educators can pick up at Reverse Garbage?
Well for me that would have to be fabrics, no competition there! I make most of my clothes so the fabric here inspires my choices. Mind you it has to be really wonderful for me to take it home as I have a bit of a fabric collection to get through...
What are some of the best-ever finds there?
A metal hip – for a hip replacement! The stacks and stacks of beautiful old but never unpacked handkerchiefs are very special and sooo pretty. It’s the simple things sometimes – we receive triangular timber offcuts that I always think have such potential for crafting and making, from early childhood blocks to sculpture. Too many to list but a quick ask round the warehouse – the huge gold throne, giant cup cakes, crazy art, ride on horses... the list goes on. Every day it’s something unique and quirky. I think RG invented FOMO – we have people here every day checking out what has come in.
What can people drop off to help keep waste out of landfill?
We will consider mostly anything here at RG and we are very good at tetris with all our donations, on average about 500kg’s per month from one small warehouse in Marrickville!! We are capacity-driven so we do ask for photos and a description before we say for sure or sorry we can’t. We always try and offer alternatives such as Circle Paints for house paint or Among the Trees for timber we don’t have the space for, so that as much as possible is kept out of landfill for as long as possible. So take the time to do some research before throwing out, it maybe a little inconvenient but has long term sustainable benefits.
Workshops Kooky Characters, Friday 11 October, 10am – 3pm, free; Reclaimed Woodblock Printing, Thursday 17 October, 6pm, $85; Indigo Dye Day, Saturday 19 October, 10am – 3pm, $110.