At the Inverness Hotel, 30 Christmas trees are adorned with
stars, snowflakes, ornaments, garlands and bows. But the materials
for the homemade decorations didn’t come from an arts supply store.
They came from trash cans and recycle bins.
Students from 30 local elementary and middle schools, including
ones in Douglas County, Littleton and Englewood, visited the
Inverness Hotel Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 to decorate the holiday trees as
part of the hotel’s third annual Trash to Trees program.
Trash to Trees encourages students to be “artistic, not
statistic,” by re-purposing bits of garbage and recyclable
materials into decorations in an effort to create environmentally
friendly Christmas trees.
According to the Trash to Trees website, Americans produce 25
percent or more household waste during the period from Thanksgiving
to New Years compared to the rest of the year. That’s about 1
million additional tons of garbage each week during the
holidays.
“We wanted to have something to push our green initiative and it
seemed a natural to bring the kids in from the schools,” said
Conference Service Manager and co-director of Trash for Trees Peggy
Scaggs. “As a hotel, we are always looking for ways to lessen our
footprint.”
On Dec. 1 nine seventh-and eighth-graders from Cresthill Middle
School in Highlands Ranch trimmed their nature-themed tree with
origami birds and flowers, fabric stars and orbs made from pictures
cut from magazines. The students had been collecting recyclables
from around their school, including materials from a library
renovation, for about two weeks.
“We are doing a lot of recycling in our school,” said school
psychologist Susan Quatrocelli. “It’s something they practice all
year long.”
The project also taught the students the importance of teamwork,
sharing and let them hone their creative side, Quatrocelli
said.
Other creative trimmings included garlands made from plastic
bags and ornaments made from plastic cafeteria forks, knives, cups
and bottle caps. Old pairs of jeans sewn together served as a tree
skirt. “A Thing Called Love” tree featured origami birds, and
plastic bees and hearts. “Deck the Halls with Bow Wow Wow” tree was
a canine-themed tree.
The trees will be on display Dec. 4-12 at the Inverness Hotel at
200 Inverness Drive, near Park Meadows mall. The public is invited
to stop by to view the trees and then vote for their favorite. The
top 10 vote-getters will receive a cash prize for their school from
the hotel and their sponsors.
But the recycling didn’t end with trimming the trees. After Dec.
12, the schools can return to claim their decorations to be
re-purposed again on their family’s tree at home. The trees will
then be given away or chipped to use as mulch on the hotel grounds,
Scaggs said.
