Artists sometimes incorporate "found objects" into their artwork when creating sculptures and three-dimensional pieces. Anything that might be headed for a landfill could end up in a work of art instead. Pieces of broken glass or pottery can be incorporated into a mosaic or stained glass window; old utensils can be hung with wire to make wind chimes and mobiles; an old mop can become a wig for a sculpture. Find ways to reuse discarded materials as surfaces and media. Paint on discarded plywood, collect pastel dust and reshape it into usable pieces, and reuse old frames from a resale shop. Use old greeting cards, magazines and wallpaper sample books to make collages, or decoupage an old wooden box or furniture.
Create wire sculptures to depict endangered animals, such as sharks or humpback whales. Incorporate the threats to these creatures in the artwork. You might include a whaling vessel capturing a whale, fishermen removing sharks' dorsal fins to make shark fin soup, or a pile of ivory tusks collected by hunters. The wire can be modeled and shaped to make a lightweight form and left bare or covered with papier mache and painted. Chicken wire can be used to create larger forms, and 20-gauge steel galvanized wire for smaller objects. Wear gloves and safety glasses when working with wire. Create a mobile with paper, string and a coat hanger to display endangered species of plants and animals. Identify a theme for the mobile: living things threatened by non-sustainable hunting and fishing practices, for example.
Make a diorama or mural to depict a natural habitat, such as a rain forest, marshland or coral reef. Add objects created out of papier mache, paper or clay that might be found in that habitat. These could be shells for the coral reef, grasses and reeds for the marsh, or tropical birds and butterflies for the rain forest.
Paint before and after pictures of the results of non-sustainable practices: a forest depleted by wood harvesting before environmentally conscious practices, side by side with a tree farm showing uniform rows of trees extending into the horizon; or perhaps a lifeless coral reef as a result of global warming, next to a reef teeming with life.