ROCKLAND — RSU 13’s Afterschool Program with The Landing Place is one of three finalists vying for top prize of ecomaine’s 2022 school-based Upcycle Challenge, which will award $500 to a participating student’s school.

The Upcycle Challenge asks students in ecomaine’s communities to use items that ordinarily would have been disposed of, to make all-new, functional ones. ecomaine’s Outreach & Recycling Committee selected the finalists, based on the incorporation of post-consumer materials, the ingenuity and functionality of the new creation, inclusion of students in the process, as well as the approval from a teacher or advisor.

The Landing Place program created “One-of-a-Kind Aprons” from old Jeans.

The two other finalists are:

Aurora Milton, Cape Elizabeth High School: An Upcycled Pair of Street Style Trousers made from an old curtain and old clothing

Aria Pines and Casco Bay High School: Waste to Art Intensive 

“As with the submission from the past two years, the ingenuity and creativity of Maine’s students is so impressive,” said Matt Grondin, ecomaine’s communications manager, in a news release.  “We are looking forward to seeing the results of our online public voting.”

Finalists will be voted on by users’ votes online through Earth Day, April 22, and the grand prize will be awarded to the winner’s school club or activity of choice.

About ecomaine

ecomaine is the Portland-based nonprofit, recycling and waste-to-energy operation that serves a third of the state’s population in more than 70 member communities through single-sort recycling, organics/food waste programming, waste-to-energy, and an “ashfill” landfill. In it’s the last year, ecomaine reached more than 60,000 school children and members of the public through grants, tours, presentations, and events to promote sustainability in waste management.  www.ecomaine.org