Little Green Day Activity

On 26 August 2012 an event called the Little Green Day was hosted by Deer Park Café in Vredehoek, Cape Town. The event featured a solar-powered stage for musicians, great music, organic and vegetarian food, some product stalls, and workshops. One of the workshops were facilitated by me, Janet Botes, and were open to anyone who wanted to join. A couple of kids joined and we created some toys, unfinished artworks and gadgets by using discarded food packaging, plastic bags and other 'waste'. Instead of using paint, we coloured our creations with coffee (the cheapest I could find, but next time I'll try using fair trade coffee).

Mask made from a pizza box lid, and a rolled piece of newspaper as 'stick'.

Why not gather some tools and random bits, invite some friends, open a bottle of wine, and together make things with what you have in front of you. It's fun to just play around and experiment - you don't need to have an end product or idea in mind, just attach and wind different pieces of plastic, polysterene and plastic bags together and see what you are able to create! Or if you like kids, or have kids, do the same (without a bottle of wine, of course!), you'll be delightfully surprised at the funky ideas that children come up with.

Instead of using glue or tape, find and develop other techniques to attach things. Here's some ideas or suggestions:

• wrap torn/cut pieces of plastic, chips packets, crackerbread foil or newspaper around an item
• thread with discarded/old rope, twine or pieces of twirled paper/foil/plastic
• fold and cut cardboard or paper, making tags that fit into slits

Have fun!