A Little Effort Leads to ‘Treasure’Lesley Evans and her friends are making great art with recycled resources. MDF board in various sizes and thicknesses provides the perfect material for the amateur art group Lesley is part of, and it doesn’t cost them a thing.
Lesley was aware of the potential of Waste Exchange because her husband had used it previously. “He had a wonderful experience” Lesley says. “He hadn’t been able to source some materials he wanted, but through the Exchange got some large plastic bags that were excellent for the sawdust he used for smoking salmon.”
|
|
Lesley emailed Jim, the Waste Exchange co-ordinator, looking for possible resources for the art group. The MDF board was ideal as it provided both a new type of surface to paint on, but also a free resource on which to practice and improve techniques. “As an amateur group it is good to have the opportunity for learning and practice - to be able to experiment and not worry because you might waste expensive resources” says Lesley. “It’s good to experiment with different kinds of material too. |
|
|
“It was the first time I’ve used Waste Exchange, and it was marvellous. I am thrilled to bits with what we got. I’m thrilled with the whole system actually – how well it worked and how it was followed up. Jim asked me to let him know what happened and if it all went smoothly, so he could track the outcome.”
The building company that offered the MDF had whole panels that they couldn’t use. “I was very impressed with the man at the building company as well” Lesley says. “His approach was terrific. He didn’t want to dump the MDF either, and was happy to give it away rather than do that. He was very generous – he even cut it up into suitable sizes for us to use, which I’m sure not everyone would do.
|
|
|
“The original art group has changed now but I tell whoever I paint with about the opportunities on Waste Exchange. A lot of people ‘um’ and ‘aah’ and, for whatever reason, they will just go to the shop and buy resources. I guess you need a little something extra to motivate you to track down alternatives. For me it was a bit of an adventure – finding the treasure! When I get a boot load I give it to others in the group as well – it’s good to be part of a network.
“I think that in future I will look for other things I might need on Waste Exchange, and I do suggest it to other people too.”
|
|
