The Garbage Museum
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The Garbage Museum
Want to walk through a giant compost pile? Stand beneath an enormous dinosaur made out of trash? View mounds of recyclables being dumped, sorted and sent off to be used somewhere else?
No? Are you sure? It is really interesting and I assure you, your child will love it! The giant compost pile isn’t real compost, but imagine shrinking down to the size of a worm and walking through it, understanding the fascinating process and seeing all of the many components at work.
The award winning Garbage Museum in Stratford, Connecticut, was developed and maintained by the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority and has much to offer their young and old visitors alike. The many interactive exhibits explore the challenges of waste management and offers some solutions in which children and their parents can participate.
- CRRA - Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority
Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority manages the municipal solid waste and recyclables for the State of Connecticut and sponsors the Garbage Museum in Stratford. - The Connecticut Children's Museum
- Imagine Nation Children's Museum
Connecticut's newest children's museum. - United States Museums by State: Connecticut
When you first enter the Garbage Museum, you can’t help but notice Trash-O-Saurus, a life sized dinosaur made out of a ton (literally) of trash. You will learn that this is about how much the average person disposes of in a year . Although he is composed of garbage, Trash-O-Saurus is really quite clean, and you can get up close, and play a scavenger hunt game provided by the museum, to find the odd and interesting pieces of trash used to make up his body.
For some visitors, the most interesting (and disgusting) part of the Garbage Museum experience is heading up high to the enclosed skywalk, which allows you multiple views of the recycling plant. This is a fully functional and working recycling plant, and visitors can watch the trucks back in and dump load after load of recyclables into the warehouse directly beneath their feet. Follow the trash through the recycling process, which utilizes tremendous machines to sort and pack the recyclables for shipment to be remade into something new.
The Garbage Museum offers scouting programs, class tours and environmental educational kits for teachers and group leaders to borrow. The museum sponsors several special events each year, including their popular Family Day and contests such as Build a Trash Sculpture .
The Garbage Museum is free and open to the public. Check their website for special events and hours of operation.
Resources
- Superuse.org
Where recycling meets design! - Recycle Now
Sing Recycler's Rap - Kids Recycle Page
- Kids Recycle
Great Recycling Links for Kids
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Thanks Steph! It is really a cool, different kind of museum! My kids love it, and i am always amazed by the endless mounds of recycling that gets processed.
Interesting hub. Need more of this to raise awareness of conservation efforts.
This sounds gros but something I'd love to check out.
Maybe next time I'm in New York, I'll make a trip to CT.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Penmanzee!
Hi Jaymz, it is kind of gross, lol, but really interesting! Thanks for reading :)
Who knew I lived so close to garbage? ;) Actually, my husband would probably enjoy seeing something like this - he's the guy that goes to the dump to drop stuff off, but brings a screwdriver just in case someone else is dumping a computer and he needs to break it open for parts. =)
What a great, fun opportunity for kids to learn about recycling. The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority was really smart to combine a recycling plant with an open-to-the-public museum. I've been recycling for years, but I've never visited a facility where the stuff is sorted and moved on to the next process. Nice hub. :)
Blogger Mom, it really is fun for the kids! I know it is hard to believe, but my girls loved watching the huge trucks come and go and they really got alot out of all of the exhibits.
Would your husband be interested in the computers in my basement that my husband refuses to get rid of? I could sneak them out :)
Thanks so much Sally! It is a really great idea. Hopefully some more museums like this will start popping up. It drives home the point that each person's efforts really do make a difference.
Amy, LOL, my husband and I laughed at your comment, because in reality, YES, he would be interested, but NO, I will not let him! =) Actually, he's been pretty good lately about clearing out some junk in our basement. Anyway, thanks for the great read.
great hub i love it Keep it up :)
Thanks so much, Ahmu!
I really do consider it a compliment that a fellow hubber (Sally's Trove) thought of me and garbage at the same time.
Hi Amy, Thanks for the information. My grown son and I are just embarking on a serious web site (Recyclingsupply.com) and I am swimming as fast as I can to learn both the interent and the recycling stuff. This hub is invaluable since most of my writing is based on my faith that if you show young people what is smart they will do good things from there.
I love fun stuff that is educational and I will find a way to get to this museum even though I am in Norht Carolina.
If you get a chance to read my hubs and I can add any value to anything you are doing I would be glad to do so.
Thanks, NEIL
Neil, you're a stitch!
Amy Jane, Neil and his son are doing some really nice work with their website. But I see the comedy is reserved for HubPages. :)
Proudgrandpa and Sally's Trove, you two made me laugh! Comedy is always welcome here :) Proudgrandpa, I am very glad you found my article helpful. I think that young people take the environment very seriously - I know my 8-year-old does! Thank you so much for the kind comment - there is also a TRASH Museum in Hartford CT, but I have not personally been there. I think it is along the same theme, but perhaps on a larger scale.
Great hub. I visited a recycling plant here in Fremont and it was interesting (not as interesting as yours though!)
I've also done lots of art out of reycled materials, including gutting out an old TV and making it into a doghouse for my small poodle...lol....
Hi Dorsi, thanks so much for reading and commenting. You dog's house sounds really cool!
That would be quite a trip - LA to NY, then 90 minutes north to that part of Connecticut :) It makes a nice side trip from NYC, and you can keep heading north to visit some other CT attractions like the Mystic Seaport and Aquarium, and the Native American Reservations / Resorts.
Cool concept!! Great hub, too far to visit, showed the kids the pics and they raved!!
Thanks MommyMandy, I'm glad you liked it!
Neat concept. This weekend, we're making a dollhouse from recycled material so this hub was up my alley.
Thanks Seamus, I hope you make a "how to" hub about your dollhouse project! I would love to see it. :)
I'm an artist and educator who backed into the reuse and recycle thing when I was teaching elementary art. My principal cut my budget from $1,000 to $250 per semester, so I resorted to using trash or solid waste as art materials. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it made me more resourceful and it stretched the kids' imaginations, too.In 1996, I launched The Imagination Factory, a children's Web site that shows visitors how to make art and crafts out of things most people throw away. Since then, millions of people have visited, looking for inexpensive art ideas or ways to encourage kids to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Some of the dozens of art activities featured include drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, paper mache, marbling, and crafts. I think teaching kids to reuse materials is a fun and entertaining way to foster environmental responsibility. I'm pleased to see that adults are starting to reuse and recycle, but I focus my attention on children, because they will more easily adopt these habits and incorporate them into their lifestyles. Kids are the ones who will make a difference in helping to save the environment. By the way, I created the original Trashasaurus Rex in 1992, and you can see him at The Imagination Factory. The site is located at http://www.kid-at-art.com/.
Hi Marilyn,
Thank you so much for your adding your info and story! I agree, kids are far more open to doing all they can to save the environment and pushing their parents all the way. :)
Thanks again. :)
nice hub, this is a great and interesting way to do with garbage
THanks midnightbliss! It really is a fun and educational outing!
What a fun learning experience for kids.
Yes, it's a very unique experience! I don't know a kid that wouldn't have a blast at this museum. :)
I am currently an educator at the Garbage Museum. First of all, I would like to say that I love this article! Secondly, I would like to make one minor correction. The Garbage Museum is NO LONGER FREE. There is a $2/person admission but 3 & under are free! We started charging last September because we are losing our funding and are in jeopardy of closing this year!! Please refer to our page at http://www.crra.org/pages/edu_museums.htm for more information on how you can help save this unique community resource. We appreciate all of your support!
Hi Christy! I am so glad you enjoyed the article! I's sorry to hear that the museum is losing it's funding. It is truly a unique experiece and I will be happy to pay admission. It is well worth it! I will share the information and check out how we can help save the museum.
I hope the museum keeps its doors open. Sounds like a fun and educational experience molded into one. Nice hub about something really unusual but valuable.
Thaniks Peggy, I hope it stays open too. It would be a shame to lose such a great educational resource and fun experience for our kids.
This looks very interesting. Funny thing when my youngest child was little he always said he wanted to be a trash man. He wanted to ride on the back of the truck. He would have liked to visit back then. I think he would still like to go.
Thanks! It really is a fun place - I'm not sure if they recieved the funding they need to stay open. I will have to check, but it will be a big loss if they didn't. Thanks for reading!
A garbage museum? Fabulous idea, amy jane! Thanks for the friendship on Facebook-if you'd not done that, I'd have missed this gem.
Thanks!
Thank you Lorlie! Glad to have found you in both places! :)
Bad news. On August 25, the CRRA Board of Directors voted to close the Garbage Museum immediately due to a lack of funds. Its sister facility, the CRRA Trash Museum in Hartford (http://www.crra.org/pages/Trash_Museum.htm) is still opening, so please visit!
That is so disappointing! It was such a terrific resource for families. I'm very sorry to hear that the museum has been closed, but I will check out the Trash Museum in Hartford with my children.
stephhicks68 Level 6 Commenter 3 years ago
This looks really cool! I wish we lived closer! We'll have to keep it in mind if we get to the East Coast. Great Hub!