Local artists and crafters are finding new purposes for items typically thrown away. Their aim is to encourage recycling statewide, as New Mexico鈥檚 recycling rate has stayed below the national average for past several years despite legislation to increase recycling efforts.
From skis to street signs, one man鈥檚 trash is another man鈥檚 treasure.
鈥淚鈥檓 100 percent certain that when people leave here they do not look at junk the same,鈥� said artist Mitch Berg.
At the Santa Fe Art Festival Saturday, artists from across the state and around the nation, like Berg, showcased goods they created from recycled materials.
鈥淚ts a lack of creativity when we can鈥檛 use what we already have,鈥� Berg said.
While these artists are finding unique ways to reduce reuse, the state鈥檚 recycling coalition is still trying to get a majority of the population to recycle at all.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cheaper than buying solar panels for your house, it鈥檚 cheaper than buying a Prius or an electric car,鈥� said Executive Director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition Sarah Pierpont.
In 2014, legislators put aside money for developing strategies to determine what it will take to get a statewide recycling rate of 50 percent.
鈥淟as Cruces is working towards their events having zero waste goals. Albuquerque was really focused on commercial recycling and Santa Fe has switched from curbside bins to curbside carts,鈥� Piermont said.
Despite those local efforts, the state鈥檚 average has held steady at 16 percent. But Pierpont said she isn鈥檛 discouraged.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 held steady at 16 percent and the weight of our municipal solid waste has decreased that means we are still recycling a little bit more.鈥�
Instead, the group is working on new initiatives to increase recycling across the state.
Pierpont said they are encouraging the state to implement 鈥減roduct stewardship.鈥� An environmental management strategy that means whoever produces and sells a product takes responsibility for minimizing the product鈥檚 environmental impact
鈥淲e are really hoping that New Mexico will lead the charge and shift the burden from the taxpayers to the manufactures,鈥� Pierpont said.
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