mottainai and the crayon box

I hate waste. Or rather, I feel really happy and super satisfied for myself (and the object!) when something is used up completely. Just this week I learned there is a word for this : mottainai. 

From Wikipedia: Mottainai (もったいない, 勿体無い^?) is a Japanese term meaning "a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized". 

OMG! There is a *word* for this strong desire to save that basically fine but too small and even a little bit ugly shirt with the raspberry stains, because you know it could be used for something. And which also encompasses that odd sense of defeat, when the basically fine but too small, a little bit ugly shirt goes into the Goodwill box. (Which the Goodwill will hopefully recycle to a rags dealer, and not trash, which I can never bear to do.) There is a word for taking the time to cut up failed paintings and printing over the little rectangles to make business cards, because the paper is just too nice. There is word for enjoying seeing Anna wear holes in the play-shoes Sam once wore. I have been a bit of a mottainai nerd my whole life it seems, without really knowing it.

So that brings us to the anti-mottainai: birthday party goody bags. For Anna's birthday goody bags this year I was determined to come up with something (anything) that wasn't plastic and ends up in the trash by the end of the afternoon. So the kids and I made recycled crayons from the overflowing supply we had, as well as harvesting the ones at the bottom of my purse, the book bag, the car seats, etc. etc. etc. The kids loved spending time hunting wayward crayons, sorting the colors, and tearing the paper off. It was a trip down memory lane of every kids' meal ordered out over the last eight years. All put back to good use!

The trick is to not heat them for too long or too high. Wax separates from pigment and floats to the top very quickly, which is what makes most recycled crayons look a little vomit-y, instead of cute. I pulled them from the oven one second before they looked melted and flat. Twelve minutes in the toaster oven, 170 degrees max for these ones.

Star shape is great for gripping, and if you carefully separate a different hue in each arm, it's five-crayons-in-one. Add a little pad of paper, some candy and stickers, and the goody bag done!

Mottainai VICTORY! So satisfying.