CAPITOLA — Litter is widely viewed as a blight on nature, so it is no surprise that municipalities are creating more programs to get rid of trash polluting the natural world.
These include initiatives like the California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Cleanup Day or the Adopt-a-Highway program, where volunteers can pick up trash along highways in exchange for money. One campaign in Brazil where people bring in trash in exchange for bus fare inspired Santa Cruz resident Taylor Lahey to write his first children’s book, “Câmbio,” and he will host a pair of story times at the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery Feb. 14.
But that is not all. Lahey is also encouraging families to donate used articles of clothing to be utilized in a community mosaic mural made out of old textiles.
“In exchange for five pieces of clothing, we will give an autographed book to families,” he said.
“Câmbio” tells the story of a boy living in a Brazilian neighborhood that is filled with litter. The city decides to address this by creating a program where people can bring in pieces of trash in exchange for bus tokens. Over time, the boy and his neighbors are able to transform the neighborhood and utilize public transportation.
“That makes a big difference because this population might not be able to afford it or have the means to ride regularly,” said Lahey.
Over time, the bus tokens become a bit of secondary currency for the residents, where they are able to go to shops or magazine stands and purchase whatever they need to fulfill their basic needs.
Lahey first came up with the idea for “Câmbio” in 2019 when working at a financial tech company that dealt with cryptocurrency and financial inclusion. His boss told the story of bus tokens becoming a secondary currency in Curitiba, Brazil, which has had a litter exchange program since 1991.
“It was a model for a kind of world we wanted to advocate for, the financial goals we wanted to build,” he said. “I thought it was way cooler than crypto, so I pitched a project to go do research and validate the story.”
Lahey visited Curitiba for research and began drafting the story, which he first envisioned as a text-free graphic novel to serve as a company piece. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the project was put on hold. When Lahey picked it up again in 2022, he decided to rework it as a children’s book for a wider audience.
“I decided to teach myself how to write a kid’s book,” he said.
Lahey recruited his friend and illustrator Ryan Matias, whose works include designs for the Pixar movie “Onward” and animation for the Cartoon Network series “Clarence,” to do the illustrations. The book was first published in 2023.
Having already done readings of “Câmbio” in schools, Lahey was looking for additional ways to expose his book to his target audience of children and parents. Elana Solon, philanthropic adviser with Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, got him in touch with Jamie Lafollette — program and outreach manager for the Museum of Discovery — and the event was set up.
In addition to story times at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., the event will have an exchange similar to that in the book. Families are encouraged to bring up to five pieces of clothing to the event, where they will receive signed copied of “Câmbio” in return. The clothes must be clean and ready to repurpose, and Lahey is specifically looking for denim products, bright-colored fabrics and plain gray or white fabrics. During the readings, textile artists will be constructing a mural using the recycled clothing articles.
This is the second community exchange project Lahey has hosted, following a bicycle exchange in November with the Community Bike Collective, and he enjoys giving new life to underutilized resources, in this case transforming old clothes into artistic expression.
“It helps kids understand that these materials in our lives can be used for other things, which is great,” he said. “It’s something we do quite often in California and places where we recycle a lot, but I think what’s special is how we’re gonna go about it, through this trade, this exchange that is a sense of reciprocity. The things that we have can be given new life in certain contexts.”
Lahey also likes the concept of building something bigger out of something small, likening it to the European folk tale “Stone Soup,” where travelers invite inhabitants of a village to bring ingredients to into their cooking pot containing nothing but hot water and a stone, and they deliver various vegetables, meats and seasonings to make a hearty stew.
“I want to do more exchanges in my community,” he said. “I believe we’re sitting on underutilized resources and products that could be given new life and really mean something for those who don’t have it or would just be nice to have.”
Lahey hopes readers of “Câmbio” will take away lessons in civics and philanthropy.
“I really want people to feel that there’s different ways of being in community, the structure of communities and the structure of civilization, and that there is a more beautiful world that we can work towards,” he said.
The story times are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Museum of Discovery located near the food court and Target in the Capitola Mall, 1855 41st Ave., Suite C-10. There will also be book signings and Q&A sessions. All events are free. For information, go to Sccmod.org. For information on “Câmbio,” go to Cambiostory.com.
