In 2015 Boulder, Colorado, set a goal of recycling, composting, or repurposing 85% of its waste. Today, it has achieved a percentage of 53% – the highest of any city in the state. 86 thousand tons of trash was recovered last year which equates to eliminating the emissions of 28,000 automobiles.

In an effort to raise people’s awareness to the problem of wasteful practices and our burgeoning landfills, on March 3 at Macky Auditorium in Boulder, Common Threads Creative Lab hosted its 13th Annual Trash the Runway fashion show.

Thirty-three Boulder-area elementary, middle, and high school students designed, fabricated, and modeled their garments and accessories made of nothing but recycled and repurposed items otherwise considered garbage. The girls spent up to a year collecting the materials. Only zippers, buttons, and duct tape weren’t allowed. They would have two months under the supervision of their Creative Lab mentors to construct their fashionable, functional, and environmentally friendly creations.

High fashion on the catwalk: Kara’s stay-on-tab earrings were to die for, (horse feed bags, computer parts).[/caption]

The elementary school girls took the stage first as a group. Not only were their designs imaginative and becoming, but the process of making them taught about problem solving and teamwork.

Tyvek, feed bags, single-use food packaging, bike inner tubes, fruit nets, tennis balls, tennis racquet string, and a hang glider parachute were all incorporated in the middle school girls’ captivating couture.

Ninth-grader Lily Ferry chose to use an inflatable swimming pool that no longer held water. Fellow freshman Clemintine “Cleo” Mitchell dealt herself discarded playing cards. Sophomore Rylan Neuman made use of candy wrappers, plastic sheeting, and swim caps. Georgia Cure (sophomore) incorporated bus ticket stubs in her design and sophomore Sophia Jones used a window screen and artificial flowers. Junior Willa Rae Stockdale chose cheese nets and dryer sheets. Zora Eckert’s (junior) dress was crafted of gleaming Celestial Seasonings tea box liners. Last, but certainly not least, were the seniors: Kara Zacharewicz demonstrated how to tastefully repurpose horse feed bags and computer parts. Sophia Lull went high-tech as well with computer parts, shrink-wrap, weed barrier, mailing packaging, and a shower curtain.

Executive Director of Trash the Runway & Manager of Creative Threads Creative Lab Tanja Leonard shared, “It is amazing to see the students grow: in their design sensibility, their creativity, their perseverance, their skill, and their stage presence.” Many of the girls participate year after year and typically go on to study in a design-related field.

A portion of the proceeds are donated to Blue Sky Bridge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to prevention and intervention in the fight against child abuse. For more information, go to www.trashtherunway.com or email trashtherunway@gmail.com.

Final Results

Middle School

Functionality: Samia Vadlamani (6th grade)

Innovation: Norah “Zach” Schwartz (7th grade)

Design: Natalie Ruggles (7th grade)

Construction: Desi Carr (7th grade)

Audience Favorite: India Kirtland (8th grade)

Runner Up: Quincy Flagg (7th grade)

Grand Prize Winner: India Kirtland (8th grade)

High School

Functionality: Izzy Iwaskow (9th grade)

Innovation: Sophia Jones (10th grade)

Design: Willa Rae Stockdale (11th grade)

Construction: Piper Bradford (10th grade)

Audience Favorite: Lydia Serbinin (12th grade)

Runner Up: Sophia Lull (12th grade)

Grand Prize Winner: Rylan Neumann (10th grade)