By Samantha deManbey
Fitchburg State students asked for less waste and more “trashion” during the “Gaga for Garbage” show recently presented by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (also known as MASSpirg).
During this “trashion” show, students strutted down the catwalk in outfits they had designed from completely recycled material. The event was part of a semester-long campaign to build awareness about recycling to move Massachusetts to a system of zero waste.
[slideshow](photos by Leanna Walsh)
The event was attended by 50 students including seven models. Claud Terenne was dubbed the Trashion Queen of the event for her ensemble made of ruffled re-used newspaper designed by Beverly Adjokatcher. Coming in a close second was Grace Anifowose, in a skin-tight dress made of garbage bags and folded newspaper designed by Cassandra Ulysse. Kathleen Blandin finished third in a soda-bottle-top and candy-wrapper dress designed by Marsha Dadaille.
Each year, Massachusetts burns and buries over 6 million tons of trash, but MassPIRG says almost 80 percent of our waste
could be reused or recycled.
This year, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is updating the state’s 10-year Solid Waste Master Plan, the blueprint for dealing with Massachusetts’ waste from 2010 to 2020. MassPIRG is calling for an updated plan that prioritizes reducing, reusing and recycling over burying and burning waste.
So far this semester, student volunteers from MassPIRG have collected over 350 petitions asking Commissioner Laurie Burt from MassDEP to update the Solid Waste Master Plan. Their local efforts have been part of a larger network of student chapters around the state that have also been amassing petitions.