If you’re not familiar with Elmer’s Glue Crew, you should check it out.  It enables schools to recycle glue sticks and glue bottles, which (usually) are otherwise difficult to get recycled.

Although Elmer’s bottles/glue stick casings aren’t the only ones you can recycle, all of their “regular” glue packaging is recyclable through the program.  (That is, the types of glue you’d usually use in school.)  Elmer’s is also a Upromise partner, so if you purchase Elmer’s or Krazy Glue products with your Upromise-registered card(s), you’ll get a percentage put into your Upromise account!

Our homeschool group is participating, but we needed a collection box.  Well, technically, I had a box – I have an ice cream bucket.  But I hadn’t gotten around to decorating it, and I wanted a way to explain to moms at our meetings what they need to do to participate.

Because we don’t have a permanent facility, whatever I put together needed to be portable.  (That’s why I used the ice cream bucket.  It has a handle, so it’s easy to carry.)  I made a trip to Wal-Mart to gather supplies, and then set to work.

I used:

• a 28×40″ trifold display board
• an X-TREME glue stick
• an empty ice cream bucket

Because I already had a box, I didn’t actually make a box.  I made a sort of “stand” to hold the box at our meetings.

First, I cut the trifold display board roughly in half.  (I cut it along the line formed by the print on the back.)

Then I cut off one flap:

…so I had this.

I wanted to make a spot for the bucket to sit, allowing me also to use the stand as the “decoration” for the bucket, so that I didn’t have to decorate the bucket itself.  So I measured the height of the bucket, and cut “tabs” from the center of the stand’s base that would end up as high as the bucket.  They fold up, like this.

And go around the bucket like this.

From the remaining cardboard (the flap I cut off earlier), I cut a piece to fit across the hole in front of the bucket, with small tabs at each end to tuck inside the larger flaps in the base of the stand.  When I set it in place, it fits together like this.

(When I’m ready to use it, I can hold those tabs in place with plain old paper clips, and it’s pretty secure.)

I expect this to sit against a wall, but, just in case, I cut a stand into the back.  It won’t hold the contraption completely upright, but it will keep it from flopping all way flat onto a table or something, and keep it visible.

After that, the only thing left to do was decorate the stand.  I was sure to add some information explaining what the program is and what moms need to do to participate.  Apart from the bucket (with the aforementioned handle), the whole thing folds up flat so I can bring it home and then easily transport it to our monthly meetings.

Elmer’s is also encouraging people to #BagitForward, by purchasing extra school supplies and donating a bag of supplies to those who can’t afford their own.  (I have been trying to find out if our local domestic violence shelter can make use of the ones I’ve collected.)

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Elmer’s #BagItForward #collectivebias” (please note that the #collectivebias hashtag is a hyperlink and must link to the Collective Bias website). Feel free to add any additional wording you would like such as “all opinions are my own.”