About

Magpie Creative Reuse Collective is a creation in process. We are working to open a Creative Reuse Center that will serve as a collaborative and creative leader in Kansas City, supporting innovative approaches to the environmental problem of material waste.

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

― Anne Marie Bonneau

Like all Magpies, we are collectors. Our mission is collecting and reselling leftover and remnant material, using collective work to keep items useful longer.

Creative Reuse Centers can be found in cities all over the US. It is a resale store model that is specifically focused on fine art, craft, office and maker supplies that have already had their first life. We love this resale model because it prioritizes repurposing items specifically for artists and makers and it creates a market for many items that thrift stores will not take. 

At Magpie, we see the scale of the waste problem we face and know it requires many hands. We are ready to join in. We are doing our part to create a more resource efficient Kansas City by offering more ways to donate used items for reuse and an accessible market to buy reused materials.

Along with making reuse materials more accessible, we will make the work of reuse easier by teaching the skills and processes needed to reuse, upcycle, downcycle, recycle and repair.  Magpie Collective embraces the “creative” part of a creative reuse center as a call to experiment, collaborate, and transform used items into something useful once again.