Flint Handmade Wins Recycling Award for Craft Supply Swaps!

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

WE WON!  WE WON!

Flint Handmade is being presented with the 2011 Recycling Award from Keep Genesee County Beautiful for our Craft Supply Swaps!

Special thanks to you our friend Jessica Burton-Billings, who nominated us for the Recycling Award!

Here is what Jessica said in her nomination:

Achievement - Briefly describe the beautification and/or clean up effort, its purpose, and what was accomplished.

"Flint Handmade hosts a free to the public craft supply swap biannually. This event started in 2009 with about 10 people in attendance. By February 2011 there were over 100 attendees!

This program encourages attendees to recycle items they no longer have a use for which reduces waste. People can clean out their closets of crafting materials, home décor items, and vintage ephemera and know that it will be appreciated. These swaps accept everything from baby food jars to expensive fabric and vintage clothing patterns.

Flint Handmade encourages the community to see usefulness in every item. It is an outlet for recycling items that could be difficult to repurpose otherwise."

Enhancement - How did the beautification and/or clean up effort improve the visual landscape of Genesee County? Will the project be continued in the future? What made this effort unique and outstanding?

"The swap encourages participants to experiment with their creativity. There’s nothing to lose if the materials are free! Word of mouth and social networking bring new recruits each time.

With such a response, Flint Handmade is looking to host more frequently. The crowd flocks to the Lunch Studio on Saginaw Street, and they leave with materials to make their corners of our county a little more beautiful. The entire program is free and not for profit, run by volunteers with their personal resources in a donated space.

Flint Handmade recently gained 501c3 nonprofit status, so with more donations all of their endeavors will grow. These swaps are a unique way to invigorate Genesee County from the inside out by inspiring community members to be creative, share, and waste less."

The Recycling Award will be presented to Flint Handmade at the 8th Annual Keep Genesee County Beauty Community Beautification Leadership Conference on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 8am-1:15pm at the University of Michigan-Flint.

To register for the FREE conference or for more information, check out the Keep Genesee County Beautiful Conference Program.

I attended the conference last year and had a fantastic time. I hope to see YOU there this year!

Keep Genesee County Beautiful Conference to Feature Upcycled Crafts!

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

My 29th birthday is this Saturday, March 5th.  I am excited to be spending my birthday morning at the Keep Genesee County Beautiful Conference!

Our good friend Nayyirah Shariff of Revolutionary Bread will be offering a workshop at the Conference called "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Lighten Your Load in the Landfill" with Holly Lubowicki of Keep Genesee County Beautiful:

Green your wallet and the environment!  Reduce waste by learning how you can make your own cleaning and personal care products and by creatively reusing items that are often discarded. Find out how to “pre-cycle” and set up a recycling collection center in your home or office.

Since Nayyirah knows that I reuse materials that would otherwise get thrown away in most of my crafts, she asked me to lend her a few of my beautiful JUNK upcycled goods to show to workshop participants.  Of course, I'm going to give her Flint Handmade brochures to distribute, too.  ;)

The 7th Annual Keep Genesee County Beautiful Community Beautification Leadership Conference and 2010 Beautification Awards Program is on Saturday, March 5, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the University of Michigan-Flint at the Harding Mott University Center.

For more information, check out this Flint Journal Article about the Conference.

Hope to see you there!