From trash to crafting treasure: Ann Arbor nonprofit has promoted creative reuse for over 40 years

Claire Tyra has been the executive director of SCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor since 2018, but her experiences browsing the nonprofit store's shelves for recycled crafting materials go back to her childhood.

"I have so many fond memories of field trips with school, Girl Scout outings, and family trips with my late mother, filling bags of fun bits and pieces to later go home with and just openly create," Tyra says.

SCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor has been rescuing materials that would otherwise be considered junk and selling them as affordable craft supplies for over four decades, and under two different names. When The Scrap Box opened in Ann Arbor in 1983, co-founder Karen Ensminger was inspired by the Boston Children’s Museum’s recycling program, which allowed visitors to create unique pieces of art out of industry scraps that would otherwise go to an incinerator or a landfill. Her operation became a nonprofit in 1985. Coincidentally, in 1998, a group of teachers in Portland, Ore. wanted to find more sustainable ways to give new life to their classroom materials, and developed the first SCRAP Creative Reuse center for their community. In 2020, The Scrap Box joined the nationwide network of four SCRAP Creative Reuse locations, becoming SCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor, which now resides at 4567 Washtenaw Ave. in Pittsfield Township. 
Doug CoombeSCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor.
Following Ensminger's passing in 2018, Tyra now carries on the founder's vision of promoting a circular economy – keeping items and materials in circulation to be reused instead of discarding them and purchasing brand new materials. While SCRAP has a team of paid staff members, including its store manager, education coordinator, and reuse specialists, Tyra emphasizes that volunteers put in an average of 250 hours a month to keep the center running and vibrant.

"We are a small but mighty team, and we do truly rely on volunteer help," Tyra says. "Volunteers help us color sort, test items and materials, measure and roll fabric, keep our sections tidy, help us with fundraising, support us through summer camps, and breathe tons of life into SCRAP every day."

Tyra isn’t the only SCRAP team member whose history with the nonprofit began in childhood. SCRAP fundraising coordinator Caitlin Burr also recounts visiting The Scrap Box in her youth with her mother. When she moved back to Ann Arbor for work in 2019, she found the shop had become SCRAP Creative Reuse.
Doug CoombeClaire Tyra (right) ringing up a customer at SCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor.
"When I don’t know people in a new place, I find that volunteering somewhere is a good entry point to meet people," Burr says. "SCRAP had posted an opportunity to volunteer, I support the arts and the environment, and I’m still here now."

SCRAP hosts fundraisers each year to support its operations, most recently collaborating with local businesses to provide silent auction items at its first ticketed event back in June. Past events like fashion shows and road rallies helped to spread education on what creative reuse is, but also aided in keeping the center’s storefront open through both the COVID-19 pandemic and the store's relocation in October 2019.

In addition to monetary donations, material donations from community members and local businesses are key to SCRAP's operations. Tyra says the shop processed 30 tons of material last fiscal year. Staff regularly update a list of needed items on SCRAP's website. Donations can be made by appointment through the center's website, with walk-in donations currently being accepted on Thursdays. Tyra also says the center is "always looking" to partner with businesses "that produce consistent usable offcuts through manufacturing or other processes."
Doug CoombeCamp Scrap! at SCRAP Creative Reuse Ann Arbor.
In addition to selling materials for creative reuse, SCRAP also holds regular events that give community members ample opportunities to learn about the circular economy and flex their creative muscles along the way. Jewelry making and sewing workshops, "crafternoons" for all ages, and the "Camp Scrap!" summer day camp program are just a few of SCRAP’s current events.

"We’re always discussing how to improve our fundraisers and boost engagement," Burr says. "Every event at SCRAP is a fun way to engage with creative reuse. You may not have thought of using and giving those materials a second life."

More information on SCRAP Creative Reuse, including a list of currently accepted material donations, can be found here. A calendar of events and ways to purchase tickets, including event scholarship applications for those in need of financial support, can be found here.

"Our mission is to promote and inspire sustainable behavior through our education programs, volunteer opportunities, retail store, and online presence," Tyra says. "We intentionally weave teachable moments into everything we do, and we truly believe that one of the most sustainable things any of us can do is to reuse the materials in the world around us."

Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime Washtenaw County resident. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.

Photos by Doug Coombe.