Put a Spin on Recycling: Locals who Upcycle

Put a Spinon Recycling

LOCALS WHO UPCYCLE

by Gina Castro

id you know that the average person generates more than four pounds of trash each day? Talk about a dumpster fire. The EPA estimates that 75 percent of American waste is recyclable but only 30 percent of it is recycled. Items that aren’t recyclable contribute to the growing landfills. Fortunately, the City of Pensacola offers curbside recycling. For a list of recyclable items, visit cityofpensacola.com/228/Recyclable-Items. However, recycling isn’t the only way you can reduce landfill waste. Upcycling is a creative way to reuse unwanted materials. First City Art Center (FCAC) is hosting Upcycled Art Bazaar, April 17 from 10 am to 3 pm, to inspire the community to reuse unwanted items creatively.

“With Earth Day and Arbor Day falling in April, it’s important to remind people that the things that are around you—you can’t just throw them away,” FCAC Events Manager, Kelly Leitermann said. “Instead, think about what you can do with them. Think, can you donate them, who else could use them, before just throwing them in the dumpster and sending them to a landfill.”

The community is able to donate certain unwanted items to FCAC, and FCAC will sell the items during the event to fundraise for their Youth Art Program Scholarship Fund. For a complete list of items FCAC will accept or to learn more about the event, visit firstcityart.org/product/artbazaar/. The Upcycled Art Bazaar will also feature vendors who create products or art from upcycled materials. Downtown Crowd spoke with artists in the area who use upcycled materials to create something new.

As the daughter of a writer, Webb spent her life surrounded by books. She’s always treasured books no matter the wear or age. Webb is a studio artist and illustrator who specializes in wildlife and botanical subjects. While on the hunt for the perfect sketchbook, she realized she could bind a sketchbook from her old books. Now, Webb visits yard sales and old book stores to collect unwanted or damaged books from 1904 to 1940 or later. Her sketchbooks include antique original pages and illustrations so that no two are ever the same. “It’s really important to remind people that you can think about objects you use every day in a different way and make them even more special,” Webb said. You can find Webb on Facebook and Instagram @IllustratedGarden.

Can-dles by Joe

Local dad, Joe Snyder started a sustainable hobby just before COVID set in. Snyder and his wife love candles. One day, when Snyder was drinking a beer as he searched the web for more candles, he was struck with an idea: What if he turned his can of beer into a candle? On his first try, he was able to remove the top of the beer can with a can opener. He’s been pouring 100 percent soy based candles into upcycled containers ever since. “I feel good that, in a little over a year, there have been no cans or bottles that have left my house without there being a nice high-quality soy wax in them,” Snyder said. Customers can donate old bottles of wine, vintage beer cans or favorite containers, and Snyder can transform it into a candle. Some customers use it as decor, too. Can-dles by Joe offers dozens of scents. Some scents are made to smell like the container it is in, such as the whiskey scented candle in the Jack Daniels bottle. Snyder is interested in helping local businesses be more sustainable by upcycling their bottles and containers. Visit candlesbyjoe.com for more information.

Collins is a local painter and mixed media artist. Her artwork has been displayed in Gallery 1060 and Artel Gallery, among others. Whenever Collins is in need of a brain break, she pieces together sculptures with household items like spoons, a glue bottle cap and paintbrushes and even bones and an old flip phone. “It’s a really nice break. It frees your brain a little bit. You start playing with them and see that this kind of fits against this and kind of looks like that, and just start putting things together,” Collins said. Collins’ solo exhibition at Artel Gallery, Shadowland featured sculptures of beetles and birds, such as Flip Phone Beetle and Hook Billed Sparrow. To see more of her work, visit gallery1060.com/diane-collins.

Candace Hilton

Rob Wacker

Growing up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, Wacker took art classes in school and describes himself as an imaginative child. He came to the area after serving in the military. It wasn’t until later in his adult life that he began selling his art and participating in local art shows. Wacker uses scrap metal, motorcycle and car parts to piece together metal sculptures. His art is permanently displayed in the Pensacola Library collection, and he is Blue Morning Gallery’s newest artist. Each piece in his sculptures are welded together. “The sculptures might be the same animal, but the parts will never be put together the same. I limit any cutting or bending. I just let the pieces go together,” Wacker said. You can find Wacker on Instagram @robwacker.

Jennifer Fleming

The fashion industry is notorious for its pollution. 85 percent of textiles go to the dump each year, and the number of garments people buy only continues to grow. This issue motivated Candice Hilton to create sustainable fashion. Since she was a young girl, Hilton has dreamed of being a fashion designer. She would experiment with her style and taught herself how to use a sewing machine. In recent years, she launched her fashion line: Peaceful Threads. Hilton creates bralettes, shorts, shirts and more uses hemp and bamboo fabric, rather than cotton, which requires large amounts of water and pesticides. Hemp and Bamboo, on the other hand, don’t require nearly as much water or pesticides as cotton, and these fabrics have a longer lifespan. “I'm definitely aware of how wasteful the fashion industry is,” Hilton said. “So I wanted to make sure Peaceful Threads would be all geared around sustainable materials and upcycled materials. It started building from there.” Hilton also incorporates upcycled clothing from thrift stores in her clothes. To see more of her Peaceful Threads, follow them on IG @peacefulthreads_.

Fleming credits her former career as a city planner for the City of Pensacola for her interest in upcycling. As a city planner, she spent her days finding ways to spruce up old streetscapes and making the area pedestrian friendly. Once she retired, she honed in on her creative side. Fleming has taken classes around the country to learn skills like silk dying and how to recycle fabrics. She even went to Japan, where she learned about cultural patchwork called Boro. Boro is hand stitching patches to cover holes and tears, and it’s quite fashionable. Fleming creates sustainable fashion like purses and jean jackets from upcycled fabrics. “If an item is not perfect, you can make it even more interesting by patching it with something beautiful. That just gives it a better story,” Fleming said. To see more of her art, visit jenniferflemingart.com.