Earth Day fashions are among celebrations

By Harold Gwin

YSU will continue its Earth Day tradition begun in the 1990s.

YOUNGSTOWN — A fashion show featuring clothing made from recyclables, an Earth Day Festival and a special “low-carbon diet” day at a local college are all a part of the local Earth Day celebration.

Earth Day, an annual date to show respect and support for the Earth and the environment, is today and millions of people, particularly school children and college students, are marking the occasion.

Locally, junior class students in the Interactive Multmedia-Visual Arts class at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center in Canfield were challenged to design fashions made from recyclable and trashable materials. Their handiwork is being shown to other technical center students today at the first Trash Bash Fashion Show at the school.

On Wednesday, some 20 environmental organizations will be on the Youngstown State University campus to take part in the annual YSU Earth Day Festival outside Kilcawley Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The 40 juniors at MCCTC have created more than a dozen outfits for the trash bash fashion show scheduled for students only this morning in the school, said teacher Melissa Hackett.

They designed and made dresses, hats, shoes, jewelry and more, working singly or in teams. There are outfits for both women and men as well as one mother and baby combination, Hackett said.

Senior students in the class were charged with doing the show logo and invitations and creating a power point program on the subject of earth day to be shown during the event.

The challenge to juniors was to see what they could do with recyclable items instead of just throwing them away, Hackett said, noting that the Mahoning Valley Green team has been a partner in the project, providing a lot of the materials used in the designs.

The students used plastic bags, soft drink cans and tabs, old imitation flowers and even old curtains to make their outfits.

YSU began its Earth Day Festival in the 1990s, said Dan Kuzma, the university’s recycling manager.

The program, scheduled for Wednesday this year, draws environmental organizations to campus “rain, snow or shine,” he said. Various groups offer information tables and games and activities, all tied to showing the importance of protecting the environment, he said.

There’s generally a lot of interest in the event and Wednesday was chosen as the day because that’s when most students are on campus, Kuzma said. Although the focus is on YSU students, the festival is open to anyone.

The Youngstown Environmental Students Society, a student group, is the organizer.

“It’s really a community issue as well,” said Katie Nicholas, YESS president.

It’s not the typical fun and games fair, although some of the participating groups, such as the Mahoning Valley Green team, do give out prizes for answering environmental questions, she said.

The festival centers around a serious subject and participating organizations are there to provide information and details on the services they provide, she said.

Kuzma said there will be a paper-shredding truck at the event to demonstrate recycling and a hybrid demonstration car that festival visitors can examine.

gwin@vindy.com