Toys - there´s more than meets the eye

The workshop of Ángel Haro on the toy making from recycled materials was the most philosophical one. 

Children in Africa make toys in shape of hi-tech mobile phones and computers, even if they see them just on TV. Through this small action we can see how the world is getting smaller and how the ideals are being transmitted from one continent to another.

Our trainer believed the making of toy is an important part of the whole process of play. Western children, who receive their toys from shops, are being robbed from the experience of creating. That might explain why children in western countries break their toys and dispose of them so easily. 

Time to recycle some paper

As our training course took place during november and Christmas was right around the corner, we dedicated some time to create Christmas decorations with Liene and Mina.

Christmas tree

A very simple christman decoration that looks amazing. You´ll need a book or a magazine to recycle (of around 150 pages, with back glued), spray paint, glue and some glitter.

Photo: Montserrat Guirado

What to do with all those old T-shirts?

On the second day of our training course Alicia came to teach us some simple things we can do with our old t-shirts. We will publish the descritpion of some of the transformations that took place during the morning session.

A bag from an old T-shirt

What you need is an old t-shirt, scissors, needle and thread, marker.

CDs, microwaves and jewelry

Photo by Maja Cadez
The jewelry is no longer measured, as before, by the precious material it is made from. Now jewelry is converted to an object of desire because of its design. María Luisa Guerrero Gónzalez

It´s not about gold and diamonds anymore. The new wave of jewelry puts the design and creativy before the price of the material. Jewelry can be created from everything. There are no limits. This opens a whole new field of oportunities and our trainer María Luisa gave us a glimpse of what can it mean.

As it is a very creative process, we will not give you a description of a specific piece of jewelry. We will just explain you the steps you can take and the ways you can play with your old CDs. How  you use this knowledge is up to you, but we believe that the craziest ideas are the best.

Let´s make some soap

The first workshop during our training course was a smelly one - we made soap from used cooking oil. Don´t be afraid to try it at home. As our trainer, Esperanza, said: soap making is easy, even if the process can take some time. 

I knew plastic bottles are bad... but oil?

Even if it is not a well known fact, each liter of used oil contaminates more than 1,000 liters of water. If the oil reaches the river, it forms a sheet that limits oxygenation process and can kill fish and aquatic plants. In addition, the cleaning process is very expensive, so it increases the costs of maintaining public sewers and water treatment plants. Thus, this is money that cannot be used for other important things, such as health, education, etc. Oil that is flushed down the sink can also clog our pipes, so we end up spending money on unblocking.