More about us…
Creative Junk is a not-for-profit, registered charity that specialises in safe, recyclable items from a wide variety of sources. We collect items from people in the community as well as local industries – where we find some of the most interesting materials – and sell them in our store. Many of the things we stock would otherwise end up in landfill. That’s the important part of what we do – we encourage the reuse of materials and indoing so help to reduce waste and pollution.
We also stock new art supplies at greatly reduced prices and are more than happy to try and source what you need. Come to our Christchurch store and see what we have got.
Our Mission
“Our aim is to provide an affordable and extensive range of recycled and natural materials, collected from industry and the community to promote creative and imaginative play and happenings in the community for children, their families and related services.”
How we began…
In the early 1980s a group of similar-minded people got together to plug a gap in the market — there was a lack of inexpensive creative resources for use in the early childhood environment. From that meeting, nearly 40 years ago, Creative Junk was born. Although one of our main focusses is still early childhood, we have grown considerably and now cater for the whole community with what we believe is the only centre of its kind in New Zealand!
We cater for all areas of the community, from early childhood centres right through schools and on to private homes and artists. We are passionate about creativity and recycling and this has proven to be a very good partnership.
What we do and how we do it
Waste diversion – we collect ‘off-cuts’, waste and ‘surplus-to-requirements’ materials from Christchurch manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers. These materials would otherwise be sent to landfill, as would the majority of the donations that are also made to us by private individuals. More than 100 businesses donate goods to Creative Junk, and we have long-standing relationships with many of these businesses. We currently have a minimum of 30 drop-offs per week from people dropping goods at our premises.
Retail shop – the materials are stored in our warehouse/retail shop at Disraeli Street, Christchurch. Our customers come here to shop, share ideas and resources. As well as recycled materials, we buy in some art and craft supplies from wholesalers and offer them at competitive prices to our customers.
Creative Boxes – we provide a courier service to customers throughout New Zealand. The boxes that we put together are proving popular with teachers, parents and creatives/artists.
Workshops – we run workshops for children and adults in order to increase their skills and knowledge in the use of junk materials to produce items that are practical and usable. Workshops for teachers are available, linking our resources to the technology, maths, science and art curricula, and the ECE curriculum Te Whāriki. Workshops are held at our premises and off-site at schools, early childhood centres and community venues.
Space for hire – our workshop area is available for hire for private use. Please enquire by telephone.
Props and play equipment – members can hire any of the various items we have collected over the years, such as a play tunnel, musical instruments, infant toddler steps, clear boards, bosy-sox and much more.
Community engagement – we are regularly involved in a number of community events, including Children’s Day, Kidsfest, Santa Parades (Christchurch and New Brighton), FESTA and the River of Flowers.
We work on a wide range of other community group events — for early childhood services, schools, OSCAR programmes, church groups and Christchurch City Council — to support the culture of recycle, reuse, rethink.
Our Committee
We are run by a voluntary Management Committee. We employ two staff members, a coordinator and an administrator, who are helped by an amazing group of volunteers. All of us are committed to improving Creative Junk and seeing it grow further to provide more and more interesting activities and services.
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Creative Junk 