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Fresh Look: Crazy Crayons
August 7, 2007

If you have children like me, you probably have a pile of partially used/broken crayons that you don’t know what to do with. Each year, about 2 billion crayons are sold but with no formal recycling program, the odds of them ending up in landfills are pretty high. Most crayons are made from paraffin wax, a petroleum derivative, so broken ones can sit in landfills and not biodegrade for years, if at all. Well, a friend turned me onto this site Crazy Crayons that actually recycles old ones and make cool “new” crayons.

Crazy Crayons take old crayons and melt and reform them to make new ones (without adding other ingredients). Because one Crazy Crayon is made from many broken ones, it is a multi-colored; think tie-dyes from the 70’s. The crayons come in different themes and shapes like animals, planets and many more. Each crayon set is packaged in recycled cardboard box with a tree-free doodle pad. According to the company, some have a clear plastic “cellophane” wrapper made from tree gum that is biodegradable and burnable. The company even sells “fire starters” – basically old crayon wrapper pieces.

Crazy Crayons encourages bulk contribution through community collection but will take small donations as well; however, small donations tend to less efficient given the cost and materials for mailing. The site has some nice ideas on how to bulk collect crayons and teaching kids the recycling concept. Sales proceeds of Crazy Crayons benefit the Crayon Recycling Program. In any case, it’s a nice way to give life to rejected crayons and clear the clutter from your home and the landfills. For more information on how to contribute crayons to Crazy Crayons, please visit Crazy Crayons Recycling Program.

However, for you crafty folks out there, you can actually make your own recycled crayons. One of the neighborhood moms recommended this recipe.

– Find all your broken crayons and break them into small pieces. You can separate them by color or mix colors together.
– Preheat your oven at 275 degrees.
– Line a muffin pan with baking cups (aluminum or paper). You can use any interesting shape container as long as it is oven safe.
– Put crayon pieces in each of the lined cups and place in oven for about 10 minutes or until melted.
– Remove from oven and let it cool completely. Remove the liner and the new crayons are ready for use.

Have fun!

CindyC atOrganicpicks

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