The Sharing Tree
Traverse the treasure trove, scour the rummage jungle; supplies and materials abound. Tubs of tubs, bins of rolls, buttons, binders, shelves and shelves of possibilities. Various knick-knacks, doo-dads, and thing-a-majigs. Oh, the thing-a-majigs! Carly’s shop is full of the makings of opportunities to come; The Sharing Tree caters to everyone. Bins full of would-be trash that are now part of art projects, classroom supplies, presents, decorations; all thanks to The Sharing Tree’s commitment to community and to bolster the phrase that’s been spread far and wide: reduce, reuse, recycle.
As a little girl back in Minnesota, Carly was inspired by a similar business, which took in donations and recycled them via low prices back to the public. She wanted to continue a legacy of caring for the earth when The Sharing Tree opened three years ago here in Tallahassee. The nonprofit’s beginnings came about through a need from the local government and schools, dreams from Carly’s childhood, and other interested entities. Through a public partnership with these factions The Sharing Tree was born.
From their website: “The mission of The Sharing Tree is to collect and redistribute reusable materials to educators, artists, and the broader learning community, while simultaneously educating the community in the art of creative reuse. The beauty of The Sharing Tree is that it truly benefits the entire community; providing classroom materials to teachers that enhance the educational setting for students while also inspiring the entire community to reuse and recycle.”
Originally intended solely for educators, The Sharing Tree opened its doors to the public just a short 5 months after its grand opening in August 2010, at which time it was a resource only for teachers. This is one of those places you have to visit to appreciate how awesome it is. Don’t miss the $5 fill-a-bag room when you visit. Oh, and supplies are free for Leon County School educators.
For the green aspect, here’s one wonderfully staggering fact: in the first two years of being open, TST kept 400,000 pounds of materials out of local landfills! At that rate, after being open for five years (in 2015), 1 million pounds of materials will have been diverted from becoming trash. Beautiful!
