Teaching can be challenging, exciting, exhausting, and uplifting all at once. There’s a resource in the region designed to make teachers’ jobs and lives a little less stressful.
What teachers say about SCRAP RVA:
“SCRAP RVA is a lifesaver! I always felt good about buying handfuls of pencils for my students with my own money, rather than use the tiny school’s budget – that could be used for something more important.” – Linda Burns, Richmond
“We love SCRAP RVA at Alma Bella Academy! My student’s favorite day is delivery day – the name of the day after I make my haul at SCRAP. I come back with such an amazing variety of goodies to create masterpieces!” – Dr. Debi Graves, Chester
“As the founder of Response.Ability and a teacher in a public school, I can say that seeing our youth express their creativity gives us hope for their future. SCRAP RVA always has treasures to support students’ imaginations, and the resources for those of us who teach them.” – Angela Loughridge, nonprofit founder
The mission of SCRAP RVA is to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community. While educators especially benefit from this resource, everyone is welcome at SCRAP RVA.
How it Started
In 1998, SCRAP Creative Reuse was founded in Portland, Oregon by a group of teachers who wanted to find a home for and redistribute their leftover classroom materials. This group formed a nonprofit in 1999 to serve fellow teachers and educators, families, and the local community by offering creative reuse supplies at discounted prices.
In Richmond, Stuff Redux, a reuse center that previously operated in Manchester, joined the SCRAP network and changed its name to SCRAP RVA in 2017. In 2019, the operation moved to its current location on West Brookland Park Boulevard, where it resells a variety of donated materials – everything from fabric swatches to doll parts – to the public.
Supporting Educators
SCRAP RVA not only sells materials at discounted rates (half or third of the retail value at typical craft stores), but the nonprofit’s Give Back Program welcomes community requests for donations of materials to support various projects.
Education programs from the SCRAP RVA team reinforce the concepts and benefits of creative reuse with the goal of behavioral change related to how waste is viewed. Combining waste reduction, sustainability skill building, and art education, SCRAP RVA hosts a variety of programs for youth, teens, and adults in the community on-site and in libraries and other public spaces.
Success Record and Next Steps
In 2021, SCRAP RVA diverted 46,730 pounds (about twice the weight of a school bus) of reusable materials from local landfills and waste streams. Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the limited space at its current location, the team is committed to its work of redistributing larger numbers of usable materials.
Later this year, SCRAP RVA will move to a larger space in North Side. Just down the street from the current location, the new site will provide increased space for material donations intake, processing, and retail space, along with a dedicated educational studio to provide improved programs and opportunities for the community. This expansion and growth will enable SCRAP to better serve even more community members, teachers, families, and organizations in the area.
Three Ways to Support SCRAP RVA Creative Reuse
1. Shop and donate at the SCRAP RVA Reuse Center. With everything from fabric to yarn to art supplies to office supplies, you are bound to walk out with something to creatively inspire you. Look for a full list of items accepted by SCRAP online.
2. Volunteer at SCRAP. Every donation needs to be processed and organized before it makes it onto the floor for resale. Volunteers help with sorting, organizing, and processing materials.
3. Donate to the moving fund. Help SCRAP move into their bigger space to better serve the community by donating shelving and organizational tools for the new space or volunteering your time.
