NORFOLK, Virginia — Neighbors in Norfolk proved that the coolest trinkets come from the most unexpected items during the second annual Upcycle Festival.
Keep Norfolk Beautiful partnered with the Norfolk Public Library to host the creative event, where participants transformed everyday waste into useful treasures.
"Using old t-shirts, making them into bags that you can use for grocery shopping, using old Christmas cards to make new Christmas cards, using book pages, we're making snowflake ornaments out of those,"Dawn Neher, manager and event organizer, explained.
Neher sees potential where most people see trash.
"We're trying to reduce waste and reuse things that you may have thrown away before so the whole point of it is just to show people that even scraps you can remake into new things," she said.
What started as a way to spread awareness on America Recycles Day turned into a creative celebration of community, bringing neighbors together to reimagine waste as opportunity.
