Fishtown Recreation Center is getting crafty for Earth Month!
Intern Keer Kulendran worked with kids in the after-school program at Fishtown Rec to create a recycling center from found objects and leftover materials. As a member of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s Community Apprenticeship Program, Keer leads art projects at the center.
Using art supplies found at the recreation center, some collective creativity, and Outdoor Modge Podge as a sealant, the group made a colorful, practical, and durable recycling center.
“As an art teacher, I really enjoy focusing my projects on recycling, and the beauty of reclaiming an object considered ‘dead’ back into existence,” Keer said. “The arts are a practical way to show children how exactly recycling can be done on a large scale, but also within our own homes through the practice of crafting. The combination of both methods will yield more efficient ‘green’ results, instead of solely relying on just large-scale recycling.”
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is actively working on the City’s zero waste and litter campaign. The plan of action for this movement states, “When considering the life cycles of the materials that make up the products commonly used in daily life, much of what is typically thrown away as trash can be recovered and put to better use through activities like reuse, donation, recycling, and composting. From 1960 to 2014, the amount of solid waste generated in the United States nearly tripled.”
Over the past few months, Parks & Rec’s sustainability manager and recycling ambassador have been working with recreation leaders, maintenance crews, and district managers to start expanding Parks & Rec’s recycling operations.
Expanding on the pilot that brought recycling bins and collections to 22 recreation facilities in the northwest region of the city in 2016, Parks & Rec staff have recently delivered bins to 40 more sites and established collections for those centers.
Mainly located in the Upper North Philadelphia and South Philly regions, the latest recycling expansion includes neighborhood playgrounds and recreation centers like Vare Recreation Center and Cherashore Playground, as well as two signature parks: Hunting Park and FDR Park. Planning efforts to bring the facilities in the remaining Parks & Rec districts online have already begun!
