Sara
@Rainbow_Strings_Lawrence

I hung my first rainbow string in 2017 or 2018, which was just a collection of old playdoh lids. I wanted to keep them from ending up in a landfill, and I thought they were fun and colorful in our tree.

March 2020, at the beginning of "quarantine," I looked at my large collection of colorful caps and lids, and thought to myself it was time to do something with them. At first I asked my husband to drill holes in the lids for me, as I've always said I'm averse to using power tools. But soon, I started drilling them myself and stringing them together. I wanted to see how many rainbows I could complete.

I quickly ran out of lids, and started asking friends, family, and even strangers on social media, if they would be willing to save their plastic lids for me. I loved the idea of keeping all those lids out of the landfill and creating something colorful and fun with them.

Soon we were receiving lots of compliments from passers-by. They seemed to make not just us, but lots of others, happy to see. Many people asked if I was selling them, or told me I should if I wasn't already. I started thinking about what good I could do with them.

I decided I would ask people to donate $10 per string, to be given directly to local groups, charitable organizations, even local businesses and restaurants to help them pay for the free meals they have so generously shared with those who need help in our community. The idea of colorful rainbow strings popping up around town, each one a visual representation of $10 that has gone to help others in our community, feels so good to me.

Eventually I realized I could just have people donate directly to the places I was raising money for. The places I ask people to donate to are focused on helping people and animals in crisis and supporting children and their families. They also agree with statements such as Black Lives Matter, No Human is Illegal, Love is Love, Feminism is for Everyone, Science is Real, and Kindness is Everything.

If you would like to collect materials for me, I would first ask that you try to limit your consumption of single use plastic as much as possible. For what you can't avoid, I can use things like milk and juice bottle lids, marker caps, playdoh lids, shampoo and conditioner bottle caps, laundry detergent lids, baby food and applesauce pouch caps, vitamin and supplement lids, etc. The colors I tend to run low on most frequently are pink/purple and light blue.

I do most of this work on my own, and often flying by the seat of my pants. I dedicate a lot of hours to this project, but I do have other obligations and interests beyond this, so I thank you in advance for your patience. I hope that we can continue to do "triple good" - spread some cheer, reduce waste, and raise money for our local community.