Building on the success of October’s inaugural circular economy event, Clean Up Peterborough is bringing back RE:Connect for a spring edition — and this time, there are even more ways to get involved.
Taking place on Wednesday, April 15 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Morrow Building in Peterborough, the free family-friendly event invites community members to connect with sustainability-focused organizations and businesses to learn creative and practical ways to reduce waste and keep products in use.
“My vision was always to connect community to circular economy thinking, where we’re diverting as much from the landfill as possible and potentially looking at waste as a resource,” says Clean Up Peterborough founder Steve Paul. “This is meant to be a community-inspired space where we all learn and grow with a community-powered mentality.”
Steve says the success of the first event can be measured in the quality of the conversations heard around the room and how people showed up with an open mind.
“The participating vendors were able to have great conversations, whether with the people that stopped by from the public or by talking amongst themselves,” he says. “There was learning going on every minute. We’re looking to bring that back so we can continue to grow the effort within the community so that anyone that wants to learn about ways to get involved can have those conversations. Everyone has the capacity to learn at this event.”
During the event, Clean Up Peterborough will be collecting hard-to-recycle items including milk bags and tags, writing instruments, egg cartons, eyeglasses, household batteries, pop tabs, and ink cartridges. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the other 30-plus miscellaneous items, like Burt’s Bees and BabyBel packaging, that people can recycle themselves through the TerraCycle recycling program.
There will also be a range of vendors set up throughout the day including vintage sellers, upcyclers and makers, and local organizations that will be holding repair and reuse demonstrations.
“We’re trying to create staple things that will help educate and get more people interested,” says Steve. “It’s not just a matter of what one person can do — it’s about what the community can do together — so I’m literally providing floor space for people to share the magic of what they do in this area.”
For the spring edition, Clean Up Peterborough has added “creativity” to Re:Connect’s tagline, which now reads “Where community, creativity, and circular living meet.” This, Steve says, was done to encourage artists and creatives to consider how materials and waste can be repurposed into works of art.
That’s why the event now includes the all-new RE:Create Circular Art Contest that invites artists to create masterpieces exclusively out of upcycled, recycled, or reclaimed items. The submissions will be displayed during RE:Connect, and there will be Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice prizes given out to each of the categories which include children (aged 12 and under), youth (aged 13-17), and adult (aged 18+).
The prizes are sponsored by the Art Gallery of Peterborough, the Art School of Peterborough, Artspace Peterborough, Camp Kawartha, and Renegade Apparel.
Submissions close on Wednesday, April 8 and can be made through the Google Docs sign-up form.
“I’ve always wanted to tap into the arts community,” Steve says. “I’m super excited about it because we’re now going to get some younger students involved. There’s lots of creative energy out there, so I’m interested to see where this goes.”
RE:Connect will also be hosting The Great Peterborough Clothing Swap, inspired by the Halifax iteration. Providing motivation to do some spring cleaning, the initiative invites people to swap their clean and lightly used clothing for other clothing items of more use. All leftover clothing will be donated to The Salvation Army Thrift Store.
More details and guidelines are available at tinyurl.com/ptboswaprules.
“Textiles are one of the biggest items that get diverted to landfills, so this is designed to keep clothing in circulation and accessible to the entire community,” Steve says, noting it will also support low-income community members. “There are people who need clothing in our community, so we’re looking to make this as free and family friendly as possible so that people with needs for items are able to take part.”
Puzzle lovers can also get stocked up this spring because RE:Connect will also be hosting Jigsaw Junction Puzzle Swap.
Steve says RE:Connect’s first-ever puzzle swap was inspired by a recent event that took place at the Avant-Garden Shop.
“Who doesn’t love jigsaw puzzles, so why not set up a space where people can bring puzzles in and take puzzles home?” he says. “This is a great way to exchange and share. You’ve already invested some money in your originals, but you can now equally swap and someone else can benefit from it.”
With the same demonstrations and impactful conversations from the first event, paired with the new swaps and art contest, Steve says he hopes the event will not only educate people but provide some fun along the way.
“There’s something for everyone,” he says. “We hope with the couple of changes and new additions we’re making this year, that will make an even bigger impact and learning opportunity.”
For more information and updates on the full schedule, visit the RE:Connect Facebook event or join the Clean Up Peterborough Facebook group. To discuss vendor and sponsor opportunities at RE:Connect, email Steve at cleanuppeterborough@gmail.com.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of Clean Up Peterborough’s RE:Connect event.
