Urban Mining Homewares Holds Earth Day Contest
for Most Creative Uses of "Trash"

In celebration of Earth Day, Urban Mining Homewares, in collaboration with Greenability Magazine, held a contest to encourage Kansas Citians to re-think what they normally throw away.  Mary Rouse, owner of Urban Mining Homewares, said:

“The average American creates about a ton of trash each year, over half of which could be recycled or re-used, but most is actually preserved in a landfill for our future generations.  At Urban Mining, every day is Earth Day, and we believe that every person can make a difference.  The object of this contest is to make use of typical discards in imaginative ways.”

Entries could be art objects, gadgets, thingamajigs, tchatchkes, etc, made from 99% typically discarded materials.  The contest was open to the public, and categories included a) most humorous, b) most original/creative, and c) most useful.  Three prizes were awarded ($25 gift certificates from Urban Mining Homewares), and the Grand Prize is a subscription to Greenability Magazine.  All entries, except the Junk Mail (which is out of state at an art show), will be exhibited in Urban Mining Homewares' display window (at 3923 Main St., KCMO) during the month of April.  

And the winners are:

 "Best in Show" winner: "Lightbulb Hanging Vases with Handmade Flowers" by Maggie Chelesnik of Shawnee, KS. Made from burnt-out lightbulbs, wire, old fishing gear, pieces of evergreen, floral tape/wire, electric bill envelope liner paper, spider plant.

"Most Humorous" winner--"Recycle Man" created by Layne Hartnett of Lenexa, KS (age 8); made from cereal boxes, yogurt containers, lids, cartons, newspaper, shredded chip bags and other trash.

"Most Humorous" honorable mention: Cat Portraits: "happy" and "bird watcher" created by Marcy Lally of Mission, KS, cat food cans (the lid is bent and attached inside as the hanger), acrylic paint.

"Most Useful" winner--lamp, created by Kathleen O'Neill of Glorieta, NM, out of found lamp, old stripped lampshade frame, metal from old popcorn tin.

"Most Original/Creative" winner--"Junk Mail" (set of 10 cards), created by Diane Mora of Roeland Park, KS.; made from post-consumer waste, i.e., shopping bags, food boxes, magazines, catalogs, tea bag packets, books, stickers found in the trash, glue, glitter, gesso; each paired envelopes and cards were intentionally designed for a cohesive theme.

 "Most Original/Creative" honorable mention--"Big Bang Continuum" sculpture, created by Lynda Leonard of North Kansas City, MO, made from papercrete (shredded/boiled recycled paper, clay and portland cement), found objects, acrylics, cast shape.

"Most Useful" honorable mention--"Coffin Nail Silverleaf" created by Jen Bicksler from Raytown, MO, made from found picture frame, cigarette pack foil liners and decoupage medium.