Turning Trash into Treasure: Repurposing and Crafting to Keep Scraps out of Landfill - A Conversation with Kathy Bonte

Amy Sabik sits down with Kathy Bonte, Board Chair of FabMo, a Sunnyvale, California-based nonprofit that promotes and encourages good stewardship of the earth by diverting discontinued designer fabrics, tiles, wallpapers and other similar materials from landfills, making them available to all interested persons and inspiring creative reuse.

Check out FabMo's website. and Follow FabMo on Instagram
For other up-cycling organizations in the U.S., see New York City-based FABSCRAP, Oakland, California-based East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, RAFT Store in San Jose, California, and San Francisco-based SCRAP.
Kathy Bonte's Yellow Rose Designs upcycling designer jewelry and merchandise
More information about 3dKids Academy

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Transcript

Lucy (Intro) 00:03

Welcome to SodPods Studio. We're not your average social network. We're a community of professionals, enthusiasts and students taking sustainability to the next level. Join us on our journey and get inspired by Earth Heroes just like you.

Amy 00:20

Welcome back to another episode of SolPods Studio. I'm Amy Sabik, and today we are talking to Kathy Bonte, founder of Yellow Rose Designs and board chair at FabMo.  FabMo is a nonprofit organization rescuing designer materials for creative use. Kathy, welcome to SolPods Studio, and thank you for joining us today.

I'm really looking forward to talking with you about your philosophy about repurposing, taking some items that people would call waste and actually turning it into gorgeous jewelry, handbags, home decor and more. You are a designer, an entrepreneur, an educator and now you lead a nonprofit, FabMo.

Kathy 00:58

Thank you so much for having me, Amy. I'm very excited to be here.

Amy 01:01

Great! Well, let's get going. So can you start out by explaining to us a little bit about how you became interested in repurposing and how you turned it into a career?

Kathy 01:10

Well, so I grew up in a family where waste was one of the seven deadly sins. I lived with my grandparents in addition to my mom, and they lived through the Depression, the wars, and they always made do with what they had. And we didn't waste food, we didn't waste anything. We made things last.  And I think that kind of stuck with me growing up. I was also an only child. So I also was very into like drawing and creating and crafting because I had no siblings to beat on. So that also, you know, kind of inspired me. 

Like I said, I've always been interested in making things. And then later on when I discovered FabMo, I was so inspired by the materials they had that I went back to, I had done jewelry making before, but I went back to jewelry making a little bit using all their reclaimed materials. And I also started making purses and some other things.

To me, it's just a fantastic creative challenge because I think there are a lot of talented designers out there that can go out and buy a cow hide or some beautiful gemstones and some precious metals and make beautiful things. But to me, the creative challenge is taking things that might normally be discarded that other people don't see the potential in and, and turning them into beautiful objects that get a second life.

Amy 02:26

I love that. I love the second life bit. Now in 2016, you launched Yellow Rose. On your website, you use the term "eco-alchemy." Can you tell us exactly kind of what that means and give us some examples of your creativity with eco-alchemy.

Kathy 02:41

So to me, that means turning trash into treasure, basically.  I might see it might be a tiny snippet of leather that was from a sample book that's, you know, only about this big, but I look at it and I say, oh, that could be some leather earrings or a, or an embellishment for something else. It could be a bit of broken zipper that just has a nice metallic glint to it that could, you know, become the bezel for, you know, a bead or a gemstone or something like that or turned into a piece of jewelry. I I've been known to use craft beer cans if they have an interesting design and incorporate that into into some of my designs.

Amy 03:21

So, you've also shared your passion for creating with kids through your company, 3DKids Academy. I know it's an after school program that is for children in grades two through middle school. Is that right?

Kathy 03:34

Yes, yes. We generally go up to sixth grade. I have done some middle school programs and some birthday parties for kids that are slightly older but in, in general, I work with elementary schools through sixth grade.

Amy 03:44

 With all the handheld devices and screen time that these kids are having, I imagine your program really gives them an opportunity to do something hands-on, kind of creating more of a maker space experience. Can you tell us a little bit about the back story and what you're doing with 3DKids?

Kathy 04:00

I started, I started working with kids' programs when I, when I came to California. My son was little and, and I was still working in the design industry, but no longer in advertising, which was, which was where I had my start back in New York. And then I started wanting to use my creativity, you know, now I'm in the mom's space and I wanted to sort of do something, you know, for the greater good and to work with kids and, and inspire.  The 3 "Ds" stand for "Dream it, design it, do it."

And what we try to impart is that, you know, kids can, kids can visualize, they can come up with a plan, they can sketch it out, and they can make it happen. And that's something that I think that lesson can carry through to almost any career and anything they do in life, even if they don't wind up becoming a fashion designer or an interior designer or any kind of artist.  Just, just being able to visualize, plan, sketch out or, or, you know, have sort of some sort of schematic and then making it happen. It's very empowering for kids. And, and the "3D" also means 3D as in tangible; not screens, not virtual, not digital but real, like hands on tools. We use, you know, scissors and markers and, and sewing machines and staple guns and things like that. You know, there's no screen time. I wanted it to be analog.  And the parents really appreciate that and, and I think it's a great way to, for them to connect with something real.

Amy 05:34

I bet the parents really do, and I'm sure it inspires these kids to maybe themselves even use some of their free time to search for more creative avenues versus going to a screen.

Kathy 05:45

Oh, yeah, I mean, and we have had kids come through our program that, that have gone on to, you know, go to college, you know, go to places like Parsons and FIT and things like that and want to pursue careers in design. So that's always, and, and some of them have actually come back and said, "Mrs B, you know, I'm applying to Parsons or I'm, I'm doing this, or I got this internship" and it's, it's, that's great to hear that.

Amy 06:10

That's wonderful to, to know that you've inspired kids in this, in this manner is really a great feeling of accomplishment and a great feeling of, of just contribution, right? And giving back, which I think is fantastic, sharing your creativity. So you mentioned that you found out about FabMo through your children's programs.  Can you share us a bit about your discovery of FabMo and how that even was a source for you, for your children's program and how those two just kind of intertwined together.

Kathy 06:40

I heard about FabMo, and I thought it would be a good place to get, you know, frankly inexpensive materials for the kids programs, like everything. You know, it's a business, you're on a budget. And so I walked into FabMo, and I found some things for the programs we were doing at the time, but I became obsessed. Seeing the materials there that were available, it inspired me to want to make things for myself as well. And I also continued to go there and get things for my kids programs. And, and also like in going back to the kids programs for a minute, I, I've always tried even when I'm not getting materials from FabMo to impart the the idea of up-cycling to the kids. I mean, I remember one time we made pendant lamps in our interior design program out of out of those Califia oat milk bottles. They have a great shape. And if you cut off the bottom and decoupage on them, they make a great pendant lamp.  Just put a little light element in there. And so we, you know, we've always done things like that. We make pencil cups out of tin cans covered in FabMo fabric, things like that. So it's so it's all about, you know, trying to be a good steward to the Earth and, and up-cycling whenever possible.

But, but yes, so I discovered FabMo through the kids programs, but then it became much more than that and I, I realized what a wealth of incredible materials were out there that would be going to waste if it wasn't for FabMo. So it, it kind of kind of took on a much bigger role in my life than just a source for getting stuff for my couple of classes.

Amy 08:24

Yeah, I recently was watching a documentary, and one of the statistics that was thrown out, which was a little mind boggling was that 20 million kilos of textiles end up in landfills in Nairobi. And that's a lot, that's a lot of textiles, that's a lot of waste that could really be used for other things. Like what you guys are doing with your children's program, with your jewelry. So I think what you guys are doing at FabMo is, is a absolutely fabulous.

Kathy 08:56

We're just playing a tiny part in what's going on. But we do rescue about 70 tons a year from a fate in the landfill. And that's, that's pretty good for an all volunteer organization, I'd say. But there's a lot more work that needs to be done on the part of everybody out there.

Amy 09:14

Yeah, that's a lot of tons  of waste that, that you guys are recovering and, and rescuing. So I know I, another statistic that I recently saw was that roughly Americans throw out about 82 pounds of clothing. If you think about how much 82 pounds of clothing is every year.  And that's just Americans, that's just one, you know, 350 million people or whatever the population is in the United States right now. So imagine you multiply that times the, the entire world population, that's a lot of waste.

Kathy 09:44

It is, it's staggering and we, we really need to do better. One of the things that FabMo recently did, was have a workshop at the Mountain View library, trying to teach people some basic sewing skills that they can use to extend the life of a garment, say a t-shirt that has a little tear or a hem comes down on something. You know, a lot of people these days will just toss things.  You know, either give it to Goodwill and it doesn't always wind up in the right place even when it goes to Goodwill, or toss it in the dumpster and, and if people can just get a little more life out of their clothing, then, you know, we'd all be much better off.  We'd have less textile waste. That's just one thing we can do, but.

Amy 10:24

Yeah, I love that.  And I know that, that, something like only one in five pieces of clothing really actually ends up for sale at places like Goodwill and some of these other, you know, thrift stores, only one in five pieces that are donated are actually sold. The rest again, goes to landfill. So, you're right. Take a t-shirt that's got a hole in it and sew it up. Right? Put a patch on it. There's lots of options that are available to you or tear it up and use it for something else.

Kathy 10:51

Yes. T-shirt yarn actually is something that we've used a lot in my, in my, camps and after school programs, you can cut the t-shirts into strips with a rotary cutter or even a good old fashioned scissors, pull them, they curl up into, you know, nice long strips and you can use that. We've woven purses out of that. You can weave baskets out of that.  It's, it's a great raw material.

Amy 11:13

So, are there other organizations similar to FabMo nationally here in the US or globally that you work with, to leverage learnings or best practices or even just to share, share how FabMo operates with these other organizations?

Kathy 11:29

So there are, FabMo is not alone. I don't know of any globally. We haven't really interacted on a global level with other organizations, but there are several in the US. And, and we recently, I think it was about a year or two ago, joined a Discord server to share sort of best practices and, and, you know, tips and advice. and that's, that's been pretty useful.

On the east coast you have FABSCRAP, which is based in New York and now they have a new outpost in Philadelphia.  And they, they focus on fabric as well, but it's mostly whereas we get our material from the Design Center in San Francisco and it's more home decor type, materials. They get theirs more from the garment industry because, you know, the garment industry is very big in New York City.  So that's where they get most of their materials. But again, their focus is also on fabric. And then in the Bay Area, you have East Bay for Creative, East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, I think is the name of it.  I'm meaning to pay them a visit. Some of our other FabMo members have, have gone there and, and, and have a relationship with them. But, they're, they're in Oakland, I believe.

And then we have RAFT in San Jose, which gets a lot of different types of materials and it's focused more on, educators. But now, now they are open to parents and pretty much anybody who wants to get a membership. But they, they have fabrics, but that's just a very small part of what they have. and then there's a place called SCRAP in San Francisco, which is a lot of fun, but it's, it's kind of crazy. You never know what you'll find. It could be like a big mass of barbed wire and next to, you know, a broken, like, leaf blower. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff. It's, it's not focused, like FabMo is in the type of materials it has, but it's also a great resource.

Amy 13:20

Yeah, there's also some other places that I've stumbled upon in San Francisco that have a lot of outdoor items that you can also, you know, repurpose, reuse. They have doors and screens and, you know, for example, the house that I was living in for a while, it needed a new back door and rather than sand that one down and try to, you know, repair it. It was really just, it, it was probably loaded with termites, who knows?  But anyway, I went up to this place up in San Francisco, and they had all these housing items like, like I said, doors and screens and vases lots of outdoor materials for landscaping. There really is a lot out there for people to go in search of, to buy, that is reused versus going to your local store and buying it brand new.

Kathy 14:1-

And I like to think that also, getting something like you described, there's, it has, it has more character to it often too.

Amy 14:17

Agreed.

Kathy 14:18

It doesn't, yeah, it doesn't have that shiny, like mass produced sort of feeling.

Amy 14:24

Well and I also like the history.  So you may not always know what the history is, but knowing that this was somebody else's door that people walked through maybe even 50, 60, 70 years ago. There's a bit of nostalgia to that as well. 

So any statistics you can share on kind, of the results of FabMo's efforts in terms of how much waste is saved.  I know you talked about the 70 tons a year. Are there any other statistics that you can share about how many people that you guys are reaching, for example at FabMo, and do you have an online store, for example?

Kathy 14:58

Sure. Well, so going back to the statistics for a minute, one of the things we're trying to do in the future, we just had a board meeting yesterday, is to try to get more hard and fast numbers about exactly what types of material we're rescuing and how much, you know, maybe eventually have a little counter on our website that says, you know, "10 tons rescued this week or diverted this week" or something like that.

But we're not quite there yet. But, but we're trying to get more information like that.  But I can tell you, we do, we do touch a lot of lives and a lot of different communities. A lot of nonprofits, other nonprofits depend on us for materials. We regularly get people from theater groups, from people that work with disadvantaged youth. We work with Sunnyvale Community Services auxiliary and, and some of our artisans that make things and have a surplus will donate to their sales events which benefit the unhoused and the disadvantaged in Sunnyvale. So there's, there's countless, countless ways like that we are involved. We, we, one of our fellow, former board members is very involved with an organization called The Grateful Garment. And they meet and use a lot of FabMo materials actually to sow, garments for victims of sexual assault who have to surrender their clothing as evidence when they, when they're at the police station. And, and I can't imagine anything more humiliating than have to, having to go home in a hospital gown after all that. So Grateful Garment makes them nice looking clothing and, and so they have something to wear home. So there's so many organizations that, that we touch. 

So, twice a month, we are open to the public for in person shopping and it's usually three days, twice a month. Sometimes it's shorter if there's a holiday or something like that. But, it's usually a Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and anybody can come in. We have an appointment system until noon, and then after, after noon, anybody can drop in. And, we also have an online store which started during COVID because we needed to stay afloat when we were all shut down and, and that has different materials than what you can buy at FabMo.  But also great materials and also materials that we get from the Design Center and other places.  We have an eBay store as well where we kind of sell the, the things that don't fit any into any other category. So there's some kind of oddball things that we sometimes have on eBay. But but it's still, it's, it's still a good way to move things out.

Like I said, we have the Mountain View library, but that's once a month hosted by one of our board members. And then we have a crochet group that meets once a month at FabMo and most excitingly, we have an artisan showcase that again, we used to do. This will be our 12th year. We're bringing it back this year after a COVID hiatus. And it's going to be a showcase for all the artisans who make things out of FabMo materials.  It's a way for them to sell their merchandise and it's also a way for the world to see the incredible things that can be made with FabMo materials. This year, it's gonna be on October 8th at the Los Altos Community Center from 10 to 4. And we're, we're looking forward to it. We're gonna have about 40 artisans. I'm hoping to get some food trucks and it's, it's gonna be a great event.

Amy 18:27

That sounds amazing. Yeah. So for anyone here in the Bay Area, definitely check that out on Sunday, October the 8th, from 10 to 4. I think that sounds fantastic to see all the work that has been created and spun out of this huge initiative that FabMo is driving to rescue all these designer goods. I'm, I'm gonna be attending, I'm really excited about it.

So, for our listeners who are interested in launching a business or a nonprofit that, that focuses on kind of repurposing or up-cycling. What advice would you give them just thinking about your beautiful Yellow Rose Designs and the work that you're doing, how would you, how would you inspire and, and inform them to get them going?

Kathy 19:09

Well, if they're thinking about starting a creative reuse organization like FabMo, they, I would, I would advise them to have some sort of a plan to start with.  FabMo started organically.  So our founders, it was about 20 years ago, Hannah and Jonathan Cranch, and Hannah is still very involved in FabMo today. They were at the Design Center in San Francisco and they, I think they were getting some inspiration for a renovation they were doing, and Hannah saw bags and bags of materials being unceremoniously tossed out and, and she said, you know, she looked at it and she went, what is that? You know, and realized what it was a beautiful samples of in some cases, silk and brocade and, and leather and tile, all sorts of wonderful stuff. And she was a teacher at the time, and she said, would it be ok if I took a bag with me since you're going to be throwing out?  They said sure. 

She took it back to Palo Alto, invited some of her teacher friends and neighbors over dumped it out on her living room floor and it was a hit. I mean, they, people couldn't get enough of it, her friends and neighbors and fellow teachers. And so she started doing it on a regular basis. She and Jonathan would go there and pick up some stuff and bring it back, and for a while it existed in their living room and then in their garage.  True Silicon Valley startup. Right? But then eventually they, they needed to make it more official for space reasons. I guess they wanted to have their coffee table back. So, so they moved into some commercial space and then in, I think it was 2009, they got full nonprofit status and incorporated and became FabMo Inc as we now know them. 

But, now we're on our, I think third location.  We're in Sunnyvale now. And, you know, now we have a whole team of volunteers and various committees and, and it's, it's, it's grown quite a bit since its initial days. But it, as I said, it grew organically. So if you were thinking of starting a creative reuse organization, maybe, like, have a bit of a road map before you go.  Because we're sort of, you know, crafting policies and things after the fact and, and trying to, trying to create processes, and it's a little bit easier if you start with a map and also identify what type of materials you want to rescue. Because it's, it's, I think it's good to have a focus and it's good to, to know what you will take and what you won't take because otherwise you will be overrun. There's so much stuff out there and people will come to you with bags of stuff that you have very little hope of ever turning around and it, it, you're just gonna get buried. So, so be a little bit selective and plan and make sure you have a lot of space.

Amy 21:56

Well, that's, that's great for, if you want to start a FabMo type replica. But what about on your Yellow Rose Design as well. Just if artisans out there are interested in starting their own business and wanting to use up, you know, recycled/up-cycled materials. How would you, how would you inspire them to get started?

Kathy 22:16

Ok. Well, I think I would, I would see if there's a resource like FabMo nearby obviously. But if there isn't there are ways to get materials. You could go to interior design studios in your neighborhood, things like that ask for ask if they have any samples they were throwing away. You can just, I mean, there are a lot of things you can also do with things that you find around your house.

It's surprising how many, how many things you can actually repurpose. Like I said, the, the beer cans...

Amy 22:50

Right!

Kathy 22:51

My little secret. you just need a few cutting tools and, and a little bit of creativity. And then there are, there are all sorts of platforms like Etsy where you can sell your, your wares. And I think I've seen since COVID, I think there's been an explosion, at least in our area of artisan markets making a comeback.  And I think that, you know, it, everywhere it seems I turn around, there's another artisan market or craft fair. So, you know, try, try doing that a little bit and, and put your feelers out and test your product.  But it's, it, I think it's a good time to be a maker.

Amy 23:26

Oh, that's fantastic. I agree. So, are there any influencers that you follow or businesses or nonprofits that you look up to?

Kathy 23:34

So I follow a couple of like crafty, repurposing blogs. And also I follow Kathryn Kellogg has a blog called Going Zero Waste, which I, which I follow. And then also Anne-Marie Bonneau, who this Zero Waste Chef I think you had her on as a guest. Not that long ago.

Amy 23:57

We did! She was, yeah, she joined us here in SolPods Studio recently, and she's fabulous.

Kathy 24:02

Yes. And she's in Sunnyvale. So we've, we've talked about FabMo, and she's posted for us and I'm not really that much of a chef but I'm fascinated by, by some of the things, some of the tips and tricks she's had and I definitely appreciate where she's coming from. And then there are some local organizations like GreenTown Los Altos is doing some good things. They have, they have bike valets at all their events and, and which I really appreciate and we're gonna try to partner with them more.  And then big companies, I like Patagonia. I like their philosophy and they, you know, they, they collect their, their used garments, they sell their used garments, they try to use up-cycled materials whenever possible. And yeah, I think that's about it.

Amy 24:50

Any trends that you have observed in terms of consumer behavior, rising interest in rifting, local artisans? Can you share with us a little bit about what you're seeing there?

Kathy 25:00

Well, I, I think I am seeing among the, especially among the younger generation. There's, there's a growing interest and awareness. I mean, obviously environmental concerns are, are in the forefront right now. But I think, I think there's a growing interest. I see it among my son and his cohort who are in their mid-twenties of thrifting and, and buying local, and creative reuse and that's heartening.

I also think, you know, people are becoming more aware of the issue with fast fashion. Unfortunately not everybody, but, but, but people are at least the people that I talk to and maybe I'm talking, maybe I'm preaching to the converted. But, but I think there is a growing awareness of the problem that we have and how we have to you know, change our consumerism behavior a little bit or we're the planet's gonna run out of room.

As far as artisans. again, I am, I am seeing a lot of people appreciating artisan made goods and I'm seeing more, more craft fairs and artisan fairs coming back. And I think that that's, I think that that's wonderful.

Amy 26:14

It's amazing to me. I, I feel like this is a little bit of a trifecta with FabMo, 3DKids, Yellow Rose Design. They're all feeding each other.  This beautiful circular environment of recycled and up-cycled materials. You're using them in your Yellow Rose Design, you're using all the materials for your 3DKids.  And teaching, you know, these kids about recycling and up-cycling and reusing all these materials, which is amazing. And then again, you know, in your Yellow Rose Designs, you're reusing all these materials as as well yourself, which I think is absolutely just amazing.  And I love what the work that you're doing.

Kathy 26:54

It does, it does sort of fit together in a nice circular package, doesn't it?

Amy 26:59

Yeah. Yeah. And I do. Something I, I also recently read about which, you know, you talked about a little bit fast fashion. You know, this whole idea of consumerism consumptionism and how we've become kind of a, a society of, there's not just two seasons a year anymore in fashion, there's 52 seasons. Right. It's a weekly thing, and people, instead of buying things that they're gonna wear for a long time, they look at it as something that they can easily discard.  It only costs me $10 so I can wear it twice and I'm fine. I can just throw it away.  But not all realizing the, the effect that that has on increasing the amount of stuff that's in landfills and, you know, shipping back and forth from, you know, places here in the United States to other areas to dump those materials.

Kathy 27:46

Yes, you're right, Amy. That the cost per wear, if you think of a $10 t-shirt and you wear it twice, the cost per wear is $5 in your mind. But it's not, it's much more than that when you factor in those other things and, and I, I'm, I'm heartened by the fact that I think people are starting to realize that I certainly hope so.

Amy 28:05

I agree. I agree. So, one of the things that we always like to ask everyone who joins us here at SolPods Studio is, if you had any sustainability superpower, what would that be?

Kathy 28:19

Well, I, I would like to say sustainability with style because I, I would like people to know that they can, they don't have to lead a drab colorless pleasure-less existence just to make sacrifices for the planet. I think you can still have beautiful things. You can still eat wonderful food. You can still have a very nice life, while still making conscious choices and, and taking care of the planet.

Amy 28:47

I love that. I love that reuse, reduce, recycle, up-cycle with style! I think that's, that's a little bit of a tagline. So thank you again, Kathy for spending your time with us today. If you're from the San Francisco Bay Area, as Kathy mentioned, FabMo is having their artisan market on Sunday, October 8th.  Go to fabmo.org to learn more about that and be sure to visit Yellow Rose Design to see the fabulous artisan jewelry that Kathy has also designed and created herself from all these beautiful recycled and up-cycled material that she's seeing from design centers and other places, that are rather than going to landfills, they're going to good use. Thank you, Kathy. This was really fun.

Kathy 29:32

Thank you so much, Amy.

Lucy (Outro) 29:35

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