The WasteShed is an organization that diverts reusable materials – mostly arts and crafts and school supplies – away from landfills and into the hands of schools and anyone else who visits one of their locations in Evanston and Chicago’s Humboldt Park Neighborhood. 

WasteShed founder Eleanor Ray is something of a trash archeologist. And instead of buying something you need brand new, she encourages patience. 

“The waste stream provides,” Ray said. “You'll sort of think of something and you'll be like, wow, I could really use this thing and then in, you know, a couple of days or a week or maybe a few weeks, it'll just turn up. And you'll be like, ‘Hey, there's that thing that I wanted.’ And here it is. It's like garbage manifestation. It feels very cosmic when it happens.” 

Ray and WasteShed director of programs and development Ulisa Blakely visited the Rundown podcast to talk about rethinking waste and their upcoming trash fashion show, Discard Disco, at the Chicago Athletic Association on April 13.