Features
Photo by Michelle Chung ’20
From Trash to Fashion
By Michelle Chung ’20
April 6, 2017
From paper cups and old posters to plastic bags and empty bottles, it’s easy to forget about other uses for our unused trash before tossing it into the waste bin (or hopefully recycling bin). As shown by the annual Trashion Show, hosted by the Hamilton Sustainability Coordinators (HSC), however, trash can have a purpose.
Founded in 2013, the “Trashion” show was created as a way to promote the initiatives emphasized in Recyclemania, an eight-week competition on college campuses which encourages students to recycle. Students can participate individually or as part of a team and have the opportunity to win cash prizes of up to $150 by creating outfits using recycled materials.
Designs are judged mainly on creativity. This year, President David Wippman and Assistant Professor of Geoscience, Cat Beck, judged how contestants could turn everyday materials (that people usually throw away without a second thought) into impressive, innovative designs.
“It is really cool in the show to see all the types of materials people are able to find around campus,” Jacqueline Guyol ’17 of the HSC said. “Many of the items can be recycled, but are more commonly found in the trash.”
Sarah Magee ’18 made an outfit with a skirt which was made out of old posters hung up around campus. “The posters are made out of paper and can be recycled, but people usually put them in the trash,” said Magee. Magee won first place in the competition for her creation as the designer and model.
Second-place winners Maddy Fredrick ’17, Olivia Box ’17 and Maggie Smith ’17 received compliments on their design made entirely out of newspaper, worn by Mary Langworthy ’17. Held together by just tape, the outfit mimicked a suit for a businesswoman and featured a small flower made out of recycled material on the side. This outfit provided an alternative use for the material, displyaing how easily paper can be resused rather than thrown away.
In third place, Mirsades Raber-Dunning ’18 presented an outfit that included pages from old magazines as well as kraft paper from a mailed package she received which was filled with the material. With all the kraft paper she had been shipped (where the only other thing inside was a tiny tampon box) and all of the magazines that weren’t being used, she wanted to give the materials a purpose rather than just throwing them away, creating a stylish long dress for model Liz Lvov ’17 to wear.
Altogether, the HSC’s main goal is to make the campus more sustainable. As an organization that works under Physical Plant, HSC has, in the past, designed and distributed recycling posters as well as collaborated on ideas to increase sustainability.
Currently, the HSCs are working on creating pollinator gardens in abandoned, green spaces on campus and brainstorming new ways to educate students on how to reduce food waste.
While some people may see their trash as worthless, a piece of waste or no longer usable, others just might find a way to make it treasurable. The Trashion Show is just one of the many ways to remind ourselves that recycling can still be fun and interesting —and important.