Mrs. Stienstras grade 6/7 class were very interested in the concept of upcycling after our first few lessons in Beyond Recycling. They loved the idea of creating something new and useful out of something old and destined for the landfill.
Valican Whole Community Center was throwing out their old chairs so the students made a donation of $1 a chair to save them from the landfill. Next was the challenge of deciding as a class on what materials were needed to re-cover the chairs and what paint to use to give them that new shine. Students put the word out to family and friends and soon fabric from the local thrift store was donated and unused paint was also given for the project. Over weeks of working on the chairs when there was a spare moment, the final pieces were complete. They looked amazing!
The next challenge was to decide whether to sell them as a set or individually, and for how much? A great discussion was had regarding selling price. The end decision was to sell the chairs in pairs and to make as make as much money as possible. This way the students could use the money raised for something that the class would enjoy, possibly a field trip or an event of some kind.
One day the conversation came up about how the students missed the grandmother tree that grew in the school field. It was recently cut down for safety concerns but the entire school community were sad and greatly missed the tree. The class decided to use the money from the chairs to buy a new tree and plant it in celebration of the grandmother tree. Such a positive outcome came from this upcycling eco challenge. The chairs were diverted from the landfill, the students were inspired to upcycle in the future, and the school yard receives a new tree that will hopefully give joy to all school generations to come.
