Bryan Ware, an inventive dad in San Francisco, has come up with a brilliant way to reuse leftover crayons that get thrown out by restaurants and schools – he melts them down and recycles them into new crayons for children at hospitals.
He came up with the idea in 2011 when celebrating his birthday at a restaurant. His waiter had brought his two sons some crayons, and he wondered where the crayons go after they're done with them. His discovery that they get thrown out led to the Crayon Initiative, which delivers crayons to hospitals throughout California.
Every year, up to 75,000 pounds of crayons get thrown away by restaurants and schools
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
Creative dad Bryan Ware found a brilliant solution - he melts them down
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
He then pours them into special custom molds
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
He makes 96 new crayons each time he does this
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
These crayons are thicker and easier to grasp for young children and kids with special needs
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
The finished crayons are delivered to hospitals throughout California
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
They've already delivered more than 2,000 boxes
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
"If these crayons give them an escape from that hospital room for ten minutes, we did our job," said Bryan Ware
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative
Image credits: The Crayon Initiative