Environmental Awareness Sparks Youth Creativity
Paper towel rolls, egg cartons, glass bottles and scrap paper are usually found in recycling bins, but these items took center stage at a recent art exhibit. Local students transformed everyday objects into sustainable art, creating vases, night lights, desk organizers and jewelry. The exhibition, “When Sustainability Meets Creativity,” was on display in January at the Howard County Library System Miller Branch. Organized by the Clarksville Youth Care Group (CYCG), a student-run non-profit in Howard County, the month-long event highlighted the creativity and environmental awareness of area youth.
With the support of a Howard County Youth Engagement Programming (YEP!) grant, CYCG has been working to promote environmental sustainability, indoor composting, and upcycling throughout the county. Upcycling has grown increasingly popular in the sustainability movement, creatively transforming waste into valuable new products while reducing waste. Upcycling encompasses various methods, one of which is creating upcycled artwork.
“We appreciate Miller Library giving us the opportunity to share our artwork,” said Amanda Wang, a senior at River Hill High School and the co-founder and President of CYCG. “We hosted a similar display last August and received many compliments. We hope to inspire more people to start upcycling. All it takes is some imagination and perseverance to create a beautiful work of art!”
The exhibition showcased over 70 pieces of artwork made from a wide variety of recycled materials. Students transformed glass bottles into vases and night lights, egg cartons into flowers, toilet paper rolls into animals, milk cartons into desk organizers, scrap papers into breathtaking pieces of jewelry, and socks into adorable pumpkins.
Wang explained how to make a unique vase from a can, cotton rope and napkin. “Wrap the can with the cotton rope, find a stylish napkin, peel the first layer with the design as most napkins have two to three layers, then brush with water and glue,” she said. “The method is almost impossible to botch and all the products come out looking surprisingly fancy.”
CYCG’s next upcycling art class, which will focus on paper upcycling, is scheduled on February 22, at Miller Library. Wang said that she thinks the key concept of upcycling is to rethink. “We want to show people old magazines, newspapers, and postcards can be transformed into unique artworks,” explained Wang. “We hope to inspire youth to think outside the box and discover their own potential as well as the potential of the materials from the upcycling process.”
For more information about the event, visit:
Upcycled Art: Transforming Paper into Treasures | Howard County Library System
