Clever Father Comes Up With Heart-Warming Solution For Reusing Old Crayons

September 8, 2015

Fresh off the presses, enough reds to make dozens of valentines! What is the first thing you would color red with a new crayon?

#shareyourcolors #recyclecrayons

Posted by The Crayon Initiative on Friday, July 24, 2015

Clever dad Bryan Ware has come up with a genius way to recycle broken and leftover crayons thrown out by restaurants and schools. The San Francisco native melts down the unwanted crayons and molds them into bigger ones for kids at hospitals.

The founder of the Crayon Initiative thought of the idea back in 2011 during his birthday celebration at a restaurant, according to the Contra Costa Times. After the waiter brought out some coloring crayons for his two sons, Ware pondered the art materials’ fate. When he found out that the crayons were going to be thrown away, he came up with idea to have them recycled into new ones.

Now, restaurants and schools are able to donate their crayons to the organization, which will donate the remanufactured materials back to schools, hospitals and other arts programs.

Ware is optimistic these crayons will brighten a child’s day: “If these crayons give them an escape from that hospital room for ten minutes, we did our job.”

So far, Ware said he’s spent $20,000 to $30,000 of his own money to fund the program, although he hopes to find corporate sponsors soon.

Approximately 45,000 to 75,000 pounds of crayons, which are not biodegradable, are thrown to waste by restaurants and schools each year, according to Ware.

Wax from crayons is not biodegradable and will sit in landfills for years.

Each process of melting old crayons produces 96 new crayons.

The special custom molds produce bigger and thicker crayons that are easier to use for young kids and those with special needs.

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