The Upcycling Design Challenge returns for a fourth year with more prizes and more prize categories.
Launched by the Township of Langley and the Langley Arts Council in 2013, the challenge invites residents to take objects normally destined for the landfill and find new uses for them.
The result has been innovative and creative pieces ranging from the practical, such as a rug made from strips of plastic shopping bags, to the fanciful, such as a large shark made from scrap wood. The annual challenge takes place in the lead up to Earth Day and each year there are more entries and increasingly sophisticated pieces. Shirley Fralick created the piece pictured from broken vehicle tail lights and a ceiling fan.
The submissions had to have at least 75 per cent recycled/reused material and the deadline for entry was April 9.
Krista Daniszewski, the Township’s sustainability programs specialist, encourages residents to think about what ends up in the landfill.
“The amount of waste thrown away each day is staggering. We are overusing our resources and filling up our landfills at an incredible rate,” she said. “The Upcycling Design Challenge aims to remind people that, with a little creativity, what was old can be new again – perhaps even better than it once was.”
The entries will again be showcased at the Willowbrook Shopping Centre from April 19 to May 1. There’s $1,300 in prizes up for grabs.
Last year more than 300 people cast votes for the People’s Choice Award.
That category returns this year with a $500 shopping centre gift card doing to the winner.
The other categories include:
• Best in Show, $300 prize
• Best use of Challenge material (textiles/clothing), $200 prize
• Most practical, $150 prize, and
• Best youth creation (ages 10-17), $150 prize
The winners will be announced at a reception on April 28.
