Recycled Art: Garbage Robots

Did you know that the average American makes over 4 pounds of trash a day? 

Did you know that the amount of plastic cutlery, disposable cups, plates and bowls that just Americans use each YEAR could go around the Earth 300 times!  300 times!  

Did you know that Americans throw away 56 diapers PER SECOND?!  That is one smelly problem!

Finally, did you know that Americans make enough trash to fill Busch Stadium in Saint Louis to the top, TWICE a day?!

These astounding facts are a few we discussed in my recycled art class this week.  Obviously trash is a huge problem and we need to think critically about the decisions we make about what we throw away and what we use.  Making responsible decisions is an important part of social-emotional learning (SEL), and I love an opportunity to combine SEL and art!

After reviewing our trash facts, we then listened to the true story of the Garbage Barge.  This is a story of a boat of garbage that traveled for 162 days and over 6,000 miles looking for someone who would take the garbage.

One interesting thing about the making of this book is that the illustrator Red Nose Studios, used garbage to create the illustrations for this book!  Check out this short clip of how the art was made:

Learning about the problem of garbage and hearing about the Garbage Barge inspired the kids to make a garbage robot out of found materials.  The kids were to imagine how their garbage robot would collect, store, and get rid of garbage.  

Since all of these pieces required more than white glue to hold together, we also learned how to properly use a hot glue gun to hold everything together.  Their creations were awesome!