Humanity has damaged the nature of which it is a part with increasing consumption and waste after the Industrial Revolution. Waste is any kind of material used, unwanted and damaging to the environment.  Heavy materials create pollution in air, soil and water resources and negatively affect the physiology of all living things. There is no waste in nature's own cycle. In nature, the waste of each living creature and ecosystem is considered as the food of another living creature or ecosystem. Today, waste is a problem for people all over the world. Any waste defined as “garbage” has started to be seen as a resource that can be utilized with the development of sustainability activities. In contemporary art, artistic expressions can be created by using waste materials among alternative materials.

This study aims to analyze the creative use of waste in art education and its function in sustainability. Within the scope of this study, an exhibition titled “Transformation from Waste to Art” was organized with the participation of twenty students who are 1st year students in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Department of Painting, in Sakarya University and who take the Basic Art Education course. The main stages of the work were to conduct research on wastes and their negative effects on the ecosystem, ecology, sustainability besides producing new ideas, searching for artistic expression with waste materials and creating works of art using an artistic language. All participants were given three months for the research, design and implementation phase. The document analyses of the twenty artworks created during this period reveal thematically how the power of art is utilized in order to live in a sustainable world. In this way, the creative power of art will be revealed, and children and young people, who will play a role in building the future of our society, will be made aware of the nature’s being under threat.

Key words: Sustainability, Ecosystem, Waste, Art Education.