A crowd of almost 100 folks gathered Tuesday afternoon at Walter Hall. One thing was on their minds — and it had nothing to do with the impending stress of finals week looming on the horizon.
It was trash. Tens of pounds of recyclables, actually.
The pounds of plastic and paper were fashioned into artwork and tools as part of the first Annual Appalachian Ohio ReUse Competition,held in conjunction with the Ohio University Office of Sustainability’s Earth Day reception at Walter Hall.
ReUse Industries is a local non-profit that saves reusable items from landfills to promote efforts to try and sustain the economy, protect the environment and create jobs. The competition encouraged people to turn waste and discarded materials into new products.
Pieces were created by amateurs and professionals of all ages. ReUse volunteer Nancy Baur said the only requirement was that the pieces be made from something else. No specific materials were required and there wasn’t a size qualification.
“There used to be a competition similar a few years ago,” Baur said. “We were hearing about cool things that were being made in the community so this competition was created.”
Eliza Dennis, a 12-year-old from Athens, created a backpack and won second place for functionality in the youth category. The competition sounded fun to Dennis, but she didn’t expect to win anything.
“I like making bags out of pants,” she said. “I thought of the idea so it did it.”
The competition brought Athens residents together alongside Ohio University members. Baur said she was glad the event could tie together the two sides of so-called “town-gown” relations in Athens.
She added that her favorite piece was created by a team from Girl Scout Troop 1036, whose members crafted a bed roll out of plastic yarn. The Scouts tore plastic bags apart and wove them together to create a bed roll, which could be used as bedding on camping trips.
The scouts weren’t the only participants that created something they could then use. Rich Post, an Athens resident and former OU professor, created a power supply for the simple reason that he needed it.
“Commercially this power supply would cost between $200 and $300,” Post said. “It has variable uses. I plan to use it to test new technology devices. I can even use it to charge batteries.”
Post said he could have easily purchased the power supply himself, but he wanted pocket some cash while using his own recycled materials.
“The materials were kept out of landfills and I got a lot of satisfaction for making this myself,” Post said.
Despite his own ingenuity, Post deflected attention toward the other 125 entries submitted for the competition.
“I am always amazed at the talent in Appalachia Ohio even though I shouldn’t be,” Post said. “Everything here is unique.”
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