ecomaine announces that, to commemorate Maine’s bicentennial in 2020, it will hold an “upcycling” contest for students to compete for a $2,020 prize for their school’s green team or project graduation. “There has been a great amount of focus on recycling lately – and rightly so,” said ecomaine’s CEO, Kevin Roche. “But sometimes, reduction and reuse can get lost in those messages. I’m very glad to be able to promote these higher rungs of our waste hierarchy, and hopefully, to get Maine’s students thinking about how to repurpose materials.”
“ecomaine’s Upcycle2020 will challenge Maine’s green teams, invention clubs, science classes, and more to think about waste in a new light – as a resource,” added ecomaine’s Outreach & Recycling Board Committee Chair, Caleb Hemphill.
Students will have until March 13, 2020 to unveil their upcycled inventions, either by sending their submission as a document, photo, or video, to ecomaine or by tagging it with #upcycle2020 and their school on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Finalists will be chosen by ecomaine’s Outreach and Recycling Committee based on the following criteria:
- Incorporation of post-consumer materials
- Ingenuity and functionality of a new “upcycled” invention
- Inclusion of students in the design and construction process
- School (teacher, coach, administrative) leadership and approval
- School is part of an ecomaine member community
Finalists will then be selected by popular vote on social media by Earth Day 2020.