The first ReUse Festival, organized by Keep Norfolk Beautiful and Norfolk Public Libraries, showcases creative ways to reduce waste.
The free event features workshops, environmental organizations and local artisans showing residents how to upcycle, repurpose and repair a variety of materials. Visitors can also learn about topics like composting, jewelry making and repair, basic hand sewing, basket weaving and decorative metal-working.
“We’re just really trying to increase the concept in our culture of sustainability and resourcefulness and getting back to the way things were when people had to do more with less,” said Sarah Sterzing, program manager at Keep Norfolk Beautiful.
The ReUse Festival is working with local businesses and artists including 757 Creative ReUse Center, PopFlorist and Alodeuri Jewelry and Design to educate attendees on a range of sustainable strategies.
Sterzing said that instead of making a lot of short-term purchases with a high turnover rate, it’s important to “encourage people to invest in what those items are long term, and identify ways to keep them in good repair and refurbish them and keep them in use.”
Examining “how we can start to conserve and create better uses for our natural resources,” Sterzing said, is imperative for conservation efforts, reducing greenhouse gasses and minimizing landfill contributions.
But local efforts towards sustainability can also have economic implications for the city and the individual.
“As a city that’s very focused on sustainability and resilience, waste reduction in general is very, very important,” Sterzing said.
The resources that go towards the high cost of waste disposal services could be freed up for the city to invest elsewhere. Also, as Sterzing notes, cultural shifts from replacing to repairing re-introduces specialized jobs in repair and refurbishment.
For individuals and families, Sterzing said, “There’s a huge economic benefit in general by not constantly having to purchase items.”
Disposable or short-term use items are costly — cheaply made clothing, single-use plastics and reliance on what Sterzing calls “dollar store items”.
The ReUse Festival focuses on upcycling some of those single-use items.
“What’s a new use for something that historically would go in the trash can?” Sterzing said.
“We really hope to see us come together as a community and have an understanding of not just the environmental, ecological, economic, but for the social benefits of everybody coming together and becoming sustainable and resourceful as a community,” Sterzing said.
For Keep Norfolk Beautiful, this is only the beginning. Future plans for ReUse Festivals include woodworking, electronic repairs and bicycle refurbishment — but Sterzing said that Norfolk Public Libraries have great resources in the meantime.
In particular, she noted The Randi Marston Peterson Maker Studio at Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library and The Maker Studio at Slover Library that include brand new equipment for 3D printing, audio recording and photography, sewing projects and more. The Maker Studios are free to residents with a Norfolk library card. The studios also include basic operating tutorials.
The inaugural ReUse Festival is Saturday, Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library. For more information, including a schedule of workshops, visit the Keep Norfolk Beautiful website, Facebook or Instagram.
