Aluminum flowers, picture frame among entries at recycling contest

WINDOW ROCK

Coke can flowers in a vase of aluminum tabs was only one of the many creations on display during Navajo Technical University’s, or NTU, Recycling Contest.

The contest took place during Earth Week in April, according to Cyrus Norcross, co-representative of the Sustainable Environment Club, and said it was only a small way for the club to promote recycling.

“It was important to help promote recycling but not just recycling itself but the uses,” he said.

With a bag full of birdseed and some plastic bottles in the backseat of his car, Norcross said he was going home to create bird feeders.

He said he hopes that other schools on the Navajo Nation are inspired by NTU’s efforts to promote recycling on the reservation and “gears their mind to a recycling future.”

Tisheena Talk, also a co-representative of the club, said people depend a lot on buying stuff and don’t take into consideration what the containers are made of or how they can reuse it later.

Talk said the contest was designed to “encourage students to start thinking about going green.”

Currently the Sustainable Environment Club is trying to introduce recycling to the university by placing recycling receptacles around campus. Talk said the students haven’t fully invested in it and still throw some of their recyclables into the trashcan but she remains hopeful.

---