A trove of discarded treasures — paper, candles, fabric scraps and more — may seem like trash to some, but to Durham’s Scrap Exchange, it is the foundation of a thriving artistic community. Since its opening in 1991, the Scrap Exchange, now located at 2050 Chapel Hill Rd. in the Lakewood Shopping Center, has become a haven for community members looking for a sustainable way to craft. 

 

Those who walk into the Scrap Exchange are greeted by sculptures made of found items and a blue wall covered in plastic trinkets. They move past the front desk, walk through the doorway underneath giant letters spelling “Scrap Exchange” and find themselves in a short corridor with silver foil-covered walls.  

 

Then comes the huge space filled with materials for reuse. 

 

Big blue barrels in one of two warehouse-like rooms host bottle caps, cardboard tubes and countless prize ribbons. The walls are lined with bins of yarn scraps, discarded trophies from days gone by and half-used spools of ribbon. The other room is filled with office supplies, greeting cards, tools, shipping supplies and scraps of wood. This is just a fraction of what the store has to offer. 

 

“Whatever you think there is, there’s more,” said local artist and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Shreya Gundam. 

 

And what makes the Scrap Exchange beloved among its visitors, volunteers and workers? 

 

“Well, it’s the Scrap Exchange!” volunteer Amy Arganbright said. “It’s all second hand, and they’re very focused on the community.” 

 

Everything for sale at the Scrap Exchange is donated by community members or local businesses, said programs and outreach director Sarah Schmader. Volunteers — whether those from school groups, those doing court-ordered community service or those just looking for a way to give back to Durham — are assigned to different areas of the store, often processing new materials and setting them out for display.  

 

The organization focuses on retail, outreach and mission-driven work, functioning on a three-pronged basis. Fifty-two staff members and 30-40 volunteers per week help keep the store going strong.  

 

Part of the Scrap Exchange’s mission is to promote reuse and sustainability, Schmader said. The organization diverted more than 300,000 pounds of waste from landfills in 2023, according to the Scrap Exchange website.  

 

“Everybody could be using something at the Scrap and not buying something new,” said Arganbright. “That’s what I wished people realized — how much they could be saving by shopping there instead of buying something new while also helping the environment.” 

 

The other half of the Scrap Exchange’s mission is to provide those sustainable materials at an accessible price point, Schmader said. Prices are a small percentage of what would be charged in other craft stores, and they are usually determined by how much of that item the Scrap has in stock. Schmader said items generally cost between 5 cents and $3. 

 

“I’ve always considered Durham kind of inherently scrappy,” Schmader said. “It’s a growing and changing place with a lot of artists and a lot of students. We’ve got some communities that are thriving, and we’ve got others that need help. It’s been efficient for us to be here because we are accessible.” 

 

The store also hosts an art gallery displaying pieces by local artists. Regular workshops at the store offer the chance for community members to learn a new craft or skill. According to Schmader, the store also books birthday parties and field trips, and outreach representatives travel to festivals and events such as Durham’s CenterFest and Raleigh’s BugFest, along with visiting schools in the community.   

 

“We want to make art available to everyone,” Schmader said. 

 

For local artists and makers, the Scrap Exchange has proven invaluable, said Gundam. Gundam sells jewelry and fabric art through her business Once Upon a Scrap and participates in Chapel Thrill Escapes, a student organization that creates escape rooms each semester. She frequents the Scrap Exchange to search for items to decorate the escape rooms and to find fabric for her business. 

 

“When you are local and starting out small, it’s nice to go to the Scrap Exchange because it expands your horizons,” she said. “I think some of the best art comes from repurposed items, not only because you’re saving money and preventing waste but because the stories behind those objects are really cool.” 

 

Staff at the organization hope to continue growing the Scrap Exchange in the coming years by improving the building, enhancing retail organization and increasing name recognition in the Durham community. As these changes are made, Schmader said, the staff hopes that the store will continue to function as a cornerstone of creativity and reuse in the Durham community. 

 

“We can get bigger physically,” said Schmader, “but making sure that our people are taken care of and that we are moving in a genuine way in our community is the biggest goal for us.”