Repurposing...

Repurposing...

A couple years ago L did an extended research project on recycled art in West Africa. One of the things I learned in proofing the paper for her is the difference between recycling and repurposing. Recycling is where the original material is ground up or melted or reconstituted in some way to make into new material. Repurposing is where you take something that has served one purpose and use it for another.

This weekend I went out and bought the smallest chest freezer I could find. My fridge freezer is jam packed with applesauce and strawberry jam and blueberries, and I want to be able to add some other stuff when I see it on sale, or while it is fresh.

So today I borrowed Kevin's truck, picked up my shiny new 5CF freezer from Sears and hauled it to the basement. As I was cutting off the cardboard carton I was thinking about recycling and repurposing, and how my kids used to love big cardboard box forts, and my 2 year old next door neighbor. I went up and asked his folks, and they were all delighted. In 5 minutes dad had windows and a door cut into it and little Nahum was all smiles.

Its a cheap thrill, but its nice to be someone's hero for the day.