I couldn't agree more and have found that my own interest in this topic actually germinated through my upbringing on Long Island: At garage/estate sales, in an inventor family where rummaging a junk pile brought the most treasured "What can we do with this?" finds. This eventually morphed into using found objects/new uses for old objects in interior design as, e.g., a restaurant roof fan cover became a ceiling light fixture cover in a movie room with sound waves motif, steamer trunks were topped with marble as coffee tables and a ca. 1915 camouflage patterned stove/oven on legs had new life as a foyer arrival conversation piece.

In Santa Barbara, CA there's a wonderful business called Art from Scrap -- a concept I'd love to bring to San Diego -- where they receive excess inventory of WHATEVER from a vast variety of businesses, dump it into huge barrels that cover the airy first floor of a former auto repair garage. People come in, pick through these barrels of stuff individually priced, take their stuff to one of rows of upstairs tables outfitted with basic art production equipment (glue guns, tape, scissors), and go to work making art of whatever kind and size. A candy store for ultimate creativity.

In there I've seen doll eyeballs next to springs and tile shards, motherboards and rolls of felt beside baby supplies, plumbing connectors and dowels, table legs and gears. It's a constant stream of pick-up and drop-off, from warehouses, construction sites, manufacturing facilities.

A terrific place for artistes, kid parties, team-building exercises, avant-garde expressives, therapy seekers, senior dexterity projects, homemade gift givers, class trips.

All with government program assistance and attractive tax impact.

This doesn't create homes or business wealth, but it does create inspiration, responsibly, and Pays It Forward in a symbiotic fashion.

Lisa C. Clark, MBA
Founder/CEO
Textiles for Thinkers, LLC
d/b/a Thinker Clothing(tm)
"Knowledge as Your Style"(tm)
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 U.S.A.
LCClark@TextilesforThinkers.com
www.ThinkerClothing.com