A CRAFTY RECYCLER

Helping Planet Earth with Earth Friendly Projects.

Monday, September 19, 2011

My sidekick...................

Kitty Kitty.....my diabetic cat!!

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A CRAFTY RECYCLER

Barbara: Coventry, Rhode Island, United States; Helping Planet Earth with Earth Friendly Projects.

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In the news.........

Charlestown Press

Monday, August 1, 2011 at 7:50am

Barbara Murgia is passionate about recycling

By Patricia Ann Chaffee

Press Writer

PEACE DALE – Barbara Murgia is offering fun, creative workshops for kids at the Neighborhood Guild this summer about a subject she is passionate about – recycling.

How do you get kids excited about their planet? Well one way is to teach them to recycle magazines to make beads, or wastepaper baskets or to make journals from leftover office supplies.

An empty nester with three grown children and time on her hands, she decided she needed to find a niche where she could offer something constructive to her community. She saw an ad on Craigslist where the Guild was looking for program instructors. She responded and realized she had to figure out an area of specialty associated with something that was important to her.

She thought about her lifestyle with husband of 31 years, Peter. They compost, have rain barrels, always ask, “what can we re-use?” They also shop at consignment shops. Yes, that’s a lifestyle. And she wanted to share her excitement about it with others.

Murgia thought about possible craft projects that could be done with recycled materials. When her children were younger, she was involved in PTA and served as a Girl Scout leader. She remembers making paper journals and wondered how it could be done with recycled materials. She submitted three proposals and they all were accepted.

“There is lots to re-use but you have to stop and think about it,” she said. “It’s a world where we throw a lot away and forget to reuse.”

An “crafty, artsy” person to begin with, it was a natural thing to offer something like this. Right now she is focusing on children’s activities for ages 10- to 13-year-olds but hopes to offer adult programs in the future.

Each two-hour program will result in participants taking home a finished product. The journal program offered July 11 will teach kids how to make a cover, pages and binding. An alternative using wax paper for pages will be offered that can be used as a flower press. The bead project offered July 26 will teach kids how to make beads out of magazine pages and each child will take home a bracelet or necklace. More magazines will be used to create a wastepaper basket project on Aug. 15.

Murgia grew up in Central Falls and attended Community College of Rhode Island where she earned an associates degree in early childhood education. She later pursued work at Rhode Island College where she studied

special education before she became a stay at home mom. With her kids now grown, she says, “you have to re-invent yourself.”

She is impressed with the multitude of offerings at the Guild and is happy to be among them. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

More information about programs at the Neighborhood Guild is available at www.southkingstownri. com, or by calling 401-789-9301. The Guild is located at 325 Columbia St. Peacedale, RI *I am no longer associated with the Neighborhood Guild.