Santa Cruz Gardens teachers Kelly Liebenthal and Monica Einaudi have joined forces to reduce the amount of items our community is sending to the landfill. They are heading a project through the Santa Cruz County Office of Education's Teacher Leader Institute on Sustainability. This fall, they presented to the school about "fast fashion" and the global impact of rejected clothing, particularly in developing countries. In December, they requested donations for the "Winter Wear Clothing Fair": coats, sweaters, boots, and similar items. Over 130 clothing items were donated, and approximately 90 items found new homes with SCG students.
February brought a second iteration of the project: a community book swap. Families brought in books their students had outgrown. During our "Pages and PJs" family literacy event, participants were encouraged to select multiple books to take home. The next day, every class had a chance to go through and choose more books. Around 600 texts went home with excited students.
This event brought a chance encounter with local author Taylor Lahey who focused on fast fashion and creating art to reduce waste in his new story Cambio. Taylor, Monica, and Kelly plan to collaborate with our art teacher Suzie Blackburn to create a textile mosaic community art project.
In April, they plan to have another clothing swap aimed toward getting students warm weather clothing for spring and summer!
Bringing these events to our SCG Winter Concert and annual event, “Pages n Pj’s,” has brought so much joy and needed items in the hands of families. Together, we are all helping to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
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