Art

Arts & Scraps: Reusing materials to combat climate change

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By Jada Vasser

Reusing materials in creative ways is a lifelong obsession for Ang Adamiak – one that led her to launch a nonprofit. Even though these days she says she’s mostly “in an office writing grants” while her staff is out doing “interesting work,” building partnerships around the sustainable reuse of materials still fuels her. “We’re always looking for ways that we can be in relationship with other organizations, whether they’re bigger or smaller than us,” she told Planet Detroit. Peg Upmeyer launched Arts & Scraps in 1989, and Adamiak has served as its executive director since 2018. The organization aims to bring the people of Detroit together by “providing reused materials and educational resources to promote sustainability and creativity.”

The nonprofit serves the community through its Creative Reuse Community Store and educational STEM programs.

And now, Arts & Scrap’s model for reusing materials and reducing waste is part of the city’s effort to combat climate change as part of the Detroit Climate Strategy. 

The city awarded Arts & Scraps a $5,000 climate action project grant to reach more families through the nonprofit organization Brilliant Detroit.

IMAGE: Deaf and hard-of hearing youth prepare seeds for a new community garden. Image courtesy of Jurmel Mitchell Sr.
Climate

Deaf and hard of hearing kids have a role in climate resilience

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By Jada Vasser

Six years ago, the Association for the Advancement of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing was founded by four mothers who wanted to create change and educational programming for their deaf children and community. “We are dedicated to improving the educational and occupational outcomes of deaf/hard of hearing youth and young adults by creating more accessible educational and occupational experiences,” co-founder and chief operating officer Toni Cannon-Mitchell told Planet Detroit. Now, with the support of a $5,000 City of Detroit grant, Cannon-Mitchell is expanding that mission to include climate equity, with a focus on healthy eating and growing one’s own food. The grant supports community projects that advance the city’s climate strategy by creating climate resilience, energy efficiency and food waste reduction. The project will create a community garden that produces cleaner air and food.

Bee City USA sign in downtown Detroit. Courtesy photo
The Buzz

Detroit is the place to bee! How Detroit Hives is helping Detroit fight climate change through pollination 

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By Jada Vasser

Detroit resident Timothy Paule Jackson’s fascination with bees began in 2016 when he discovered the benefits of using honey to combat the common cold. He began researching the components in honey that provide medicinal benefits for the immune system. Soon, he and his partner, Nicole Lindsay, enrolled in beekeeping classes. They launched Detroit Hives was 2017 after the couple bought their first vacant lot in Detroit and set about keeping bees on the property. As native Detroiters, they saw the potential in beekeeping to transform vacant and blighted lots and inject energy into underserved communities.

Climate

Dirty steelmaking unfairly threatens low-income communities

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Michigan residents and activists are pushing the auto and steel industries to buy cleaner, more sustainable steel to clean up pollution in the Detroit-Dearborn area. 

Recently Industrious Labs, a climate advocacy group, gave guided tours of Detroit and Dearborn auto and steelmaking factories to try to convince automakers to switch from steel produced traditionally into sustainable, cleaner steel.