The arts have always played a significant role in our societal development. They allow truth to be spoken to power and shape our culture while remembering our history and acts as a platform for new and innovative ideas. As the entertainment industry has expanded exponentially in the streaming age, so have their piles of trash. In the currently developing arena of climate change, The Scrap Pile (TSP) has an opportunity to become a leader for a sustainable solution.
At this time, artists in the city struggle to make ends meet, find resources for their art, and affordable spaces to create. All while the TV, theater and movie industries, continues to accumulate large amounts of waste added to an already overburdened system, roughly 40% of which is construction waste. TSP aims to reallocate “trash” to “treasure” while providing an affordable creation space for artists. We serve the arts, artists and the local community by creating a closed loop system to minimize waste and maximize ART
The Scrap Pile is aiming to solve one seemingly simple problem. The entertainment industry creates an enormous amount of construction waste roughly 30% of which is untouched scrap and almost all is eventually torn down and thrown away. With the increase in the retail prices of these materials due to COVID-19 and the economy, many artists and designers struggle with the cost of these materials in addition to storage needed to buy in bulk or save their scraps.
By creating a space where scraps can be made available to local artists and community building needs, we create a partial loop which will remove thousands of pounds of material from the waste stream every year.
