CINCINNATI — Maryjo Flamm-Miller pulls her 5-year-old’s artwork out of the trunk. First, there’s a bag. And then, there’s a box.
She has a lot to show me.
Flamm-Miller is an art teacher. Her students mostly call her “Miss Maryjo,” but a box full of school supplies in her backseat has her full name on it.
“They absolutely loved making this,” Flamm-Miller said.
She unfolds a large piece of paper with purple lines printed across it in squares. Then, she snaps open a Tupperware and shows me how they made it: rubber bands wrapped around a white block, then pressed onto a sheet of paper.
It was all made from materials she got for free at Cincinnati’s Recycling and Reuse Hub in Lower Price Hill. More than the deals she got, what's remarkable about all this is that Flamm-Miller drove 2.5 hours to get here.
And she does it every year.
See why in the video below:
Because it’s cheap, yes. But also because it inspires her — 110 miles away from where she teaches in Chillicothe.
“Let’s go see what we can find," Flamm-Miller said.
Inside the hub warehouse, a volunteer hits a button signaling the freight elevator.
“I’m often surprised at what new teachers think they have to spend,” Flamm-Miller said. “You can make a lot of good learning happen with inexpensive or free resources.”
Flamm-Miller is sweating. She’s been shopping for almost an hour now, often stopping to get my attention and show me something.
“I never look for anything specific,” Flamm-Miller said. “I just come and see what happens.”
On this floor, there are pencils, binders and bottle caps for $1 a pound — tile for 25 cents. Some items for free. There’s yarn, signed posters and a life-size head from the movie "E.T." on top of one of the aisles.
“The sky is the limit,” said Jerome Wilson, reuse manager. “If you come here often — and you’re clever — you can find really good deals.”
On the first floor, customers bring in items that curbside recycling doesn't take. On this floor, Wilson’s team sells the even harder-to-recycle items.
Flamm-Miller is standing in line now. She’s still sweating. But she’s smiling, too.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with these, but they were too cool to pass up,” she said. “Look at this. My preschoolers are going to love that.”
She reaches into her wheelbarrow cart. Yarn. Paint. Spray bottles. Stickers. Then, she turns to the camera. She wants to address all the teachers in our region.
“You got to get down here,” Flamm-Miller said. “As fast as possible.”
She gives me a thumbs up and says she got six months' worth of supplies for $29. Wilson thanks her for coming in.
“It’s a long drive from Chillicothe,” Wilson said.
“It’s worth it,” Flamm-Miller said. “Look at all this.”
She smiles again. And at her car, she opens her trunk and puts almost 30 pounds of supplies inside.
“What a great day,” Flamm-Miller said.
Want to help?
Hub employees tell us the public has dropped off more waste so far this year than all of last year. Because of that, they shut down one week this month to keep up. The nonprofit is fundraising to help increase its capacity.
