One man's trash is another man's treasure. While that adage may not hold true for some people, it does for Carter Anderson.
Anderson, who founded the local organization Save the Trash, leads a recycling effort in the Richmond area to reduce litter and help clean up Earth. That trash then can be reused for education enrichment, such as art projects in schools.
As thousands of people descended on South Richmond's Manchester neighborhood yesterday for the annual Earth Day Richmond, Anderson showed that some trash is worth saving.
Along Third Street, Save The Trash set up games -- using only recycled products. Passers-by could play basketball, ring toss or cornhole with items initially deemed trash.
"With all the games here, we took a bunch of things that were headed to the landfill, and we turned them into something that's fun, interactive," Anderson said.
He created a golflike game called zingers, which uses pieces of EZ Up canopies, weighted down with sand or tennis balls and cinched with recycled telephone wire. Then the contraption is thrown toward numbered tubes (much like golf) or can be used to play a game of cornhole.
Yesterday's festival was celebrating and advocating for a greener Earth. The James River Outdoor Coalition held one of their major fundraisers -- an outdoor gear swap meet -- in conjunction with the celebration.
Kayaks, bicycles and hiking equipment were some of the merchandise available, creating an opportunity for people to sell items they no longer need, rather than simply throwing them out. Ten percent of all sales go to the coalition.
"The money goes back into the James River Park System, along with a lot of volunteer hours," said Sally Wetzler, treasurer of the group.
JROC, a nonprofit organization whose effort is aimed at improving James River park facilities, has volunteered to clean trails, add new steps at the Manchester climbing wall and install a wheelchair ramp at the pump station.
There were groups on hand such as Shalom Farms, a project of the United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond, advocating that people grow their own food. Shalom Farms has a goal of providing food security in the Richmond region, specifically in low-income urban neighborhoods.
The food is grown at a farm in Goochland County and given to communities in Oak Grove-Bellemeade and Church Hill. But those receiving produce also have a hand in growing it, said Dominic Gibbons Barrett, director of the United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond.
Students come to the farm, Barrett said, to observe how the produce is grown, which is tied to science Standards of Learning components.
"They see the full process and are helping it grow by building their own farms in their own neighborhoods," Barrett said. "It's also an opportunity to care for the Earth, preserve the Earth."
For folks like Anderson, Earth Day -- which officially was Thursday -- doesn't just come around once a year.
"Earth Day is every day," he said. "It's a way of life for some."
Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or jslayton@timesdispatch.com.
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