SAMMAMISH, Wash. — A middle schooler from Sammamish has created a partnership with local restaurants to save their crayons from ending up in the trash.
Gaurangi Gupta, 13, saw a need for the initiative when she noticed a local restaurant was collecting and throwing away the crayons they provided for kids at each table.
“I wondered why they were thrown out and why we couldn’t recycle and maybe even repurpose for kids in need,” Gupta said.
She has identified local charities and hospitals as potential recipients and a discussion with a local restaurant manager led her to the realization that hundreds of crayons were disposed of each day.
“That’s like millions of crayons thrown away every year!” she said.
Her new initiative is to collect as many used crayons as possible to distribute to hospitals, schools, charities and undeserved communities.
Gupta started with BJ’s restaurant in Redmond where they are one of 200 locations across the country. General Manager Melissa Ferris says she was impressed by Gupta's vision for a single-use item.
“The Crayons just see a few minutes of play while the kids are waiting for their food — so to save those from going in to the trash is really great for us,” says Ferris.
The crayons are collected by volunteers with Youth4US, Gupta's own youth-led volunteer organization, and sorted by color, sanitized or melted down and poured in to new molds. Hearts, flowers and emoji faces are just a few of the new designs they create from the gently used crayons.
“These are crayons that would end up in the landfill and instead we can recycle and give kids crayons to express their creativity,” Gupta said.
The teen leader says she hopes the new campaign will gain traction and become a trend across the country.
This isn't Gupta's first time stepping up and helping others.
During the Pandemic Gaurangi channeled her love of art and reading into Youth4Us.com, which offers activities such as free art lessons every week. The website promotes community service and literacy.
“Youth4Us is a kid-run volunteer initiative that gives kids the opportunities to participate in various events and serve their community for free,” she said.
To learn more, support the kids or to volunteer you can visit her website.