The Makers Workshop of Laurel Springs, NJ opened its doors June of 2018. Scavenging through scrap yards, flea markets, antique store, estate sales, etc. has always been part of our DNA. We knew that a large percentage of our store would be based on the reuse of discarded/vintage materials. At this present time we average a savings of $400 a month in materials. We have customer donated materials, scrap materials, materials that we purchase in bulk from a vendor or at very low cost from an estate sale. We always have a general idea what we are looking for but there is always the unexpected find. Sometimes it's a box of metal hooks or vintage wallpaper that fill a couple boxes, other times it's steamer trunks or pallets that fill our whole vehicle. Then there's what we look for for our own art that I haven't included in the estimates. Meg is a scrap metal artist and her scrap metal runs can get heavy. The items she makes are for sale at The MW. Ms. Trudi is a clay artisan and uses vintage lace and doilies to press into her pottery. They are very light. Her pottery is also for sale in the shop and craft shows. We based how may lbs we saved from the landfill on a yearly average.