LIVE
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2018 Grants Challenge

Global Green’s Creative Reuse Coalition

Through community upcycling workshops and digital tutorials, Angelenos will learn how to creatively reuse, repair, and repurpose their damaged or worn out items, making LA the best place to live!

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Please describe the activation your organization seeks to launch.

Global Green’s Creative Reuse Coalition (CRC) will activate Angelenos in educational, creative reuse workshops. In cooperation with local businesses, artists, and eco-gurus, we will host 6-8 free, hands-on workshops on the art of upcycling by offering repair and repurposing strategies for commonly wasted items such as textiles and electronics. We hope to foster a behavior shift towards the minimization of waste by repairing and reusing items that would otherwise be landfilled.

Which of the LIVE metrics will your activation impact?​

Resilient communities

Will your proposal impact any other LA2050 goal categories?​

LA is the healthiest place to CONNECT

In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?​

Central LA

East LA

South LA

Westside

How will your activation mobilize Angelenos?​

Digital organizing or activism

Trainings and/or in-person engagements

Influence individual behavior

Describe in greater detail how your activation will make LA the best place to LIVE?​

Global Green’s CRC is aiming to foster a shift in behavior towards the minimization of waste by repairing and reusing items that would otherwise go to landfill. This program will activate residents in educational, creative reuse workshops and create stronger, more connected, and resilient communities. In cooperation with local businesses, such as breweries and repair shops, as well as local artists and eco-gurus, Global Green will host 6-8 free, hands-on workshops on the art of upcycling and conserving household items by offering repair and repurposing strategies for commonly discarded items such as textiles, electronics, and bicycles. We aim to educate up to 240 Angelenos in these workshops to empower them to “upcycle”, creating a cycle of reusing and repairing items that would otherwise go to landfill. During the workshops, residents will learn how to transform their unwanted, worn out, or damaged items into “new” or improved materials, creating a space for creative reuse and waste prevention in the City of LA. Each workshop will focus on a specific need (i.e. textile mending) based on pre-surveys provided by Global Green to participants, and will include the tools and resources required for residents to reinvent ‘wasted’ items to create greener, more resilient communities. In addition to providing its own expertise for these workshops, Global Green will invite local, relevant experts to lead each workshop and provide one-on-one assistance to attendees.

The CRC workshops will create more resilient communities by giving residents the ability to become more self-sufficient, resource-efficient, and cost-effective as they are enabled to utilize available resources to their fullest potential. Workshops will also give participants the opportunity to connect and engage with other community members, creating stronger communities that will be more resilient in the face of external issues. The goal is for residents to utilize the skills gained from the workshops in order to persistently upcycle and repair their commonly discarded items after the program; thus continuing to reuse the City’s existing resources and enforcing resilience within their communities. Residents will also be able to use the skills acquired in these workshops, combined with follow-up digital tutorial videos and blogs created by Global Green, to engage in peer-to-peer education with their family, friends, and neighbors, engaging the broader community in the activation and enabling more Angelenos to contribute to and benefit from a more sustainable LA. To this end, the long-term outcomes of increased reuse and repair of commonly worn out, broken, and discarded items in the City of LA will include increased waste prevention and diversion, reduced environmental health hazards, reduced stress on landfills, reduced costs for residents, and more, enabling residents to benefit from a more sustainable environment and making LA the best place to live.

How will your activation engage Angelenos to make LA the best place to LIVE​

Creative Reuse Coalition workshops will be open to the public and will take place in 6-8 different locations across LA to attract a variety of participants. Workshop locations will be chosen based on the following criteria to ensure accessibility and diversity: 1) proximity to public transit; 2) location in or near highly frequented centers; 3) location near diverse communities to ensure participants of various backgrounds and financial means. The activation will engage up to 240 Los Angeles residents through free public workshops featuring local artists, artisans, technicians, chefs, celebrities, social influencers, makers, menders, etc. The workshops will give attendees a hands-on experience and the skills/knowledge that they need to repair items in their everyday lives. In addition, Global Green will engage community members after the workshop by developing and posting video guides and blogs following each workshop to educate those who could not attend workshops and to further educate/increase skill levels for participants. The ease of accessing and sharing these free videos and guides will increase program accessibility for all and provide an opportunity to engage more Angelenos. Based on current levels of viewership on Global Green’s Youtube channel, we anticipate 1200-1600 people will watch these videos. Post-workshop surveys will be administered, so that participants can provide feedback to ensure that we are progressing towards making LA the best place to live.

Please explain how you will define and measure success for your activation.​

Outputs

1) 1 press release drafted/published to raise awareness

2) 6-8 workshops hosted

3) 90-240 Angelenos attended workshops (15-30 attendees per workshop)

4) 6-8 local artists, fixers, chefs, etc. acted as mentors

5) 90-240 follow-up surveys administered with the following feedback: 80% of attendees thought the workshop was useful; 60% of people used their skills or would; 60% of people feel that they reduced their waste from attending the workshop

6) 6-8 videos, guides, and blogs produced to educate other Angelenos about how to upcycle their broken or old materials and provide follow-up assistance for participants

Outcomes

1) Participants engage in peer-to-peer education on skills gained through workshop training; an estimated 225 - 600 people reached based on average of 2.5 people per household in California

2) 1200-1600 views of the workshop videos, reaching individuals who did not attend the workshop and individuals who did attend but would like a reminder of what they learned

3) Decrease in commonly discarded items and food waste in the landfill in LA

4) Increased awareness about strategies for reusing broken or worn-out items among residents

5) Metrics collected for lbs diverted from landfill (items repaired/ repurposed)

6) More resilient communities in LA because of increased number of opportunities for individuals to engage with one another, be self-sufficient, and keep valuable resources out of the landfill

Where do you hope this activation or your organization will be in five years?

Global Green’s Creative Reuse Coalition is aiming to foster a shift in behavior towards the minimization of waste by activating communities with the skills and knowledge to repair, repurpose, and reuse items that would otherwise go to landfill. Therefore, in five years, we hope that our workshops inspire Angelenos in every neighborhood to repair and reuse their broken, worn out, or damaged belongings rather than throwing them out, and to share those lessons with others, making reuse the first instinct before disposal. We hope that our model workshops may inspire regular repair cafes in a variety of areas around the city, as well as increase the frequency of events, focus, education, and policies on repair and reuse strategies for waste prevention. In time, we hope that with more interest and enthusiasm for reusing and repairing old items, the City of LA will be a model city for waste diversion, with the incorporation of strategies encouraging repair and reuse as key approaches to meet diversion goals in its updates to the City’s Sustainability Plan.