Wands for Wildlife: How discarded mascara wands become works of art

Jun 10, 2023

Used, discarded mascara wands are just junk, right? Worse, they are not even recyclable in mainstream recycling.

But they hold magic nevertheless. What they can do is connect local youth and seniors while also helping animals in need or creating beautiful art.

Wands for Wildlife, a global non-profit based in Hendersonville that supports wild animal rehabilitation in Western North Carolina, works to re-purpose discarded mascara wands for use in wildlife care, art and education. The organization encourages greater mindfulness of the impact of human activities, including the use of plastics, on the environment. They work with another non-profit, Pact Collective, to recycle discarded wands instead of them going into landfills.

Carolina Village started working with Wands for Wildlife in August, hosting wand sorting events. Residents could stop by and sort donated mascara wands into three categories: animal care, artwork and recycling. To date, residents have sorted two giant boxes of wands.

But that's not where the magic of the wands ends.

On Oct. 20, Carolina Village residents and 24 FernLeaf Charter School kindergarteners used the salvaged wands that residents sorted over the past two months to create a four-feet-squared wand mural of a Monarch butterfly. The mural was designed by the art instructor at FernLeaf Community Charter School. The mural will then be auctioned off via a virtual auction by FernLeaf with the proceeds going to Wands for Wildlife.

FernLeaf became involved with Wands for Wildlife through a separate community partnership with Carolina Village.

Aleen Dailey, Wellness Coordinator at Carolina Village, has a daughter who attends FernLeaf. FernLeaf students and Carolina Village residents have been collaborating on monthly projects together for several months, including park strolls at local parks. Through collaborative discussions with FernLeaf kindergarten instructor Whitney Mebane, the joint art project came to fruition.

"Whitney loved the idea," said Dailey. "FernLeaf is now partnering with Wands for Wildlife for its annual project-based learning requirements. The school is hosting its own Wandraiser, wand sorting, and curriculum on animal care for rehabilitated wild animals."

"We are thrilled to see the Wands for Wildlife Wand Art program inspiring a collaboration bringing together a group of kindergarteners from Fernleaf with residents at Carolina Village," Wands for Wildlife Executive Director and founder Tashi Brewster said. "It is such a wonderful way to connect youth with seniors in our community. The impact will go far beyond what happens locally in October. We will use this experience to create a guide on how to do this in other communities across the country."

Carolina Village, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is celebrating its 48th anniversary this year and is Hendersonville's only Type-A LifeCare Continuing Care Retirement Community/Life Plan Community. It offers seniors the full continuum of care – from independent living to assisted living and skilled nursing – on its energetic 96-acre campus.

To learn more about Wands for Wildlife, go to wandsforwildlife.org.

Joshua Grady is the Communication and Design Specialist at Carolina Village