6 Steps to Recycling Art Supplies

Ok, I am a victim of keeping art supplies around even if I have no plans of using them, but since I cleaned my studio, I noticed that I have lots of unused supplies taking up space in my studio. So I decided to share with you guys 6 different ways I have recycled art related supplies.

1. Printer Paper- I tend to print out too many pages of a document and realize that it was just a waste, so instead of throwing it away, I just turn it over and print on the other side. I do this only when I am running a test sheet of something or just need to print out a document to read closer.
2. Use common items around the house- I was reading a collage source book , was reading over the supplies needed for the project and noticed that many of the items were household products or products used when I was in grammar school.
3. Reframing- Do you have old artwork in frames- then reuse the old frames to showcase new work. This idea hit me when I was setting up for a new art exhibit and realized that I needed to go out and purchase more frames. As some of you may know, this year has been money tight-so being able to purchase new frames was a little out of my budget. So I scouted around my studio and found 4 reuseable frames. Now that is saving!
4. Scraps of paper laying around- As a collage artist, I have lots of scrap paper laying around and hopes to use it in another collage, but these small scraps of paper can pile up, so here is an ideal- create collage packages and sell them on esty, ebay, craiglist, or a flea market. You can even donate them to a local daycare,school or retirement home they could use the scraps in some of their art projects. (Exposure idea: Offer free workshops at these location and gave away a collage package to each attendee.)
5. Old artwork- Reuse it in another project- cut it , repaint over it, or give it away as a gift to a client or as a giveaway on your blog site.
6. Magazines- I love receiving magazines, but I have so many of them that I just do not know what to do with them. I typically decide on one day during the month to go through each magazine and tear out any images or ideas that I want to save and then place them in one of my source notebooks. The remaining magazines I either take to work so the students can use them, or I give them to my stepmom who takes them to work with her, so other EMTs to read them , or I just recycle them in my recycle bin. But anyway it goes, I have to get rid of them because they can take up valuable space in your studio. To learn more of recycling magazines go to www.Earth911.com.