Mesa’s i.d.e.a. Museum teaches planting and recycling on Earth Day
The i.d.e.a. Museum provided seeds planted in repurposed egg cartons to visitors to celebrate Earth Day this Thursday.
In the Upcycle Seed Starter Challenge, children and their families were given egg cartons, seed starters and soil to foster the idea of growth and sustainability on Earth Day.
“Even our youngest visitors will get a little bit of an exposure to what it’s like to grow, and see something come from seed to full plant,” museum curator of education Dena Milliron said.
The activity took place in the atrium, a part of the museum that houses reused and decorated tires as planters, where they experienced the process of planting the seed into soil and learning what elements will help their seed grow.
After the activity, the museum encouraged children to take their plants home and replant them into larger beds or the ground, reminding them that water and sunlight helps plants grow. The children sketched their plant from germination to full bloom to visualize the process from seed to plant.
The museum is piggybacking on the Earth Day theme of Restore Our Earth.
“With everything that’s happened this year, focusing on natural processes makes sense,” Milliron continued. “The focus is on natural processes, and this is the most natural process, right, for little ones to be able to be a part of.”
Though the activity was focused on Earth Day, the museum regularly promotes values of sustainability, reusing and repurposing.
The standing exhibit Junkyard Jungle focuses on sustainability by showcasing local art-making with reused and repurposed materials in partnership with the City of Mesa’s Environmental Management and Sustainability Department as well as Mesa Recycles.
The current local artist is Steven Johnson, who made entire sculptures from raffle tickets. Milliron remarked, “And you wouldn’t be able to know unless you looked really closely, but they’re beautiful.”
Upon entry to the museum, a family is given a kit of repurposed materials such as cardboard box pieces cut from shipments to the museum or donations from outside sources such as Kleenex boxes or paper towel rolls.
The HUB Gallery also regularly showcases artwork made with repurposed materials. The gallery serves as an activity area where visitors can participate in the museum’s art-making activities. All activities are part of the i.d.e.a. museum’s mission to reuse, recycle, and commit to a sustainable lifestyle in line with Earth Day values.
“It happens every day as a part of our initiative to connect to recycling and reducing and supporting natural resources and being just stewards of our environment,” Milliron said.
