Trash Trophies
Kristina Farrell
After five years working in retail, Dominique Camacho conjured up an eco-concept a few years ago when she was renovating her apartment in a converted synagogue. "I became obsessed with salvaging or reusing everything we tore out and then learned about green alternatives for materials an finishes," she explains. "I went as far as getting my LEED accreditation, then decided to close my t-shirt store and open Sustainable NYC."
Offering eco-friendly everyday products for women, men, babies, and pets, Sustainable NYC is a 1300 square foot storefront—built from 300 year-old reclaimed lumber from NYC buildings—located at 139 Avenue A in New York's East Village. "The wallpaper and paint are eco-friendly," explains Dominique. "We use alternative energy through our utility provider. Our outdoor sign is solar powered!"
Sustainable NYC's Mission
- Local
- Organic
- Fair trade
- Recycled
- Re-purposed
- Biodegradable
- Alt-energy
[b]WATCH VIDEO: G Word: Terracyclist[/b
Enter the Trash Trophies
Dominique Camacho met Cindy Ruskin through her neighborhood preservation group, The East Village Community Coalition. Ruskin runs the art program at The Andrew Glover Youth Program. Glover provides an alternative to incarceration based on a simple premise: "Instead of sending kids to jail, the court sends them to us."
Their mission is threefold:
- to intervene and reclaim young people from lives of crime
- to provide an overloaded court system with a reliable alternative to incarceration for youths
- to make the Lower East Side and East Harlem safer for everyone
Together, Camacho and Ruskin came up with the idea for Sustainable NYC to commission the Glover kids to create something called "Trash Trophies."
My Conversation With Dominique Camacho and Cindy Ruskin
Planet Green: How did the whole Trash Trophy concept emerge?
Dominique Camacho: The idea came while I was recently vacationing in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is famous for amazing artwork and creative people and I saw and met lots of both. I found the original piece in a hip store that sold items made by local artists. I bought it as a decoration for our apartment. When I got home, I decided it was too amazing to just put on the wall; I wanted to make more to share. So I reached out to Cindy to see if it might be a project the Glover Kids would be interested in.
PG: What kind of reaction did you get from the kids?
Cindy Ruskin: At the beginning, our kids were not happy about working with trash and absolutely refused to collect bottle caps. Once I arrived with all the supplies, they were intrigued by the smell of the laundry detergent bottles and the set-up in the art room, and seemed more open to making their own trophy heads. We set up one table for eyes, one for ears and noses, and one for horns. Our kids would choose the detergent bottle that defined the shape of their animal head, and then they'd go from station to station designing and adding details. The kids had a blast, and they were proud of the wacky creatures they created.
PG: What lessons do you think the kids learned from the entire process?
CR: Our kids are troubled teens and most of them are in the court system. The goal of the Andrew Glover Youth Program is to give our kids the tools and confidence to walk away from further criminal activity and become productive, happy adults. What I love about the Trash Trophies project is that it inspires kids to think creatively, and to use their imagination and sense of humor to develop their own personal vision. Usually our teens are very anxious about taking risks. Yet with this project they didn't try to copy the South African prototype at all, but had fun creating their own characters. I love looking at the photos of the kids posing with their trophies because so often you see the kid's attitude reflected in their art work. I'd like to believe that the message that you don't always have to buy art supplies and that you can be creative with trash found on the street has seeped into their consciousness. I also hope that this project has taught them how to be inventive and look at found materials in a different way. Given the complicated issues this group of teens face, It difficult to get them to stop littering, to think about the environment and to think about the future of the planet. Seeing the products sold at Sustainable NYC will help reinforce this message.
PG: How can folks check out the Trash Trophies?
DC: We will have an opening party for them at the store on June 16, 2010 at 5:30. The trophies will sell for $20 each and 100% goes directly to the kids.
CR: Many of the kids didn't believe that Dominique was going to buy ALL the trash trophies to sell at Sustainable NYC. They were convinced that she was only going to choose the best and that she wouldn't choose theirs. When Dominique bought their work, they felt that they had accomplished something real—they'd created a piece of art that had value, and they felt happy and proud. The best lesson of all for our kids is for them to realize that if they work diligently, they can succeed. I think that the opening party at Sustainable NYC is going to give them another opportunity to know what genuine success feels like.
