Celebrating Earth Day by turning trash into treasures

NEWTON — Three generations of green people visited Sussex County Community College Monday. No, they weren’t from outer space — they were conducting the first of a week-long series of Earth Week events sponsored by the Student Activities Office and the campus Biology Club. Lynne Johnson, her daughter Flora Johnson and granddaughter Rachael Renzi presented a “Trash to Treasures” workshop in the college café. Using plastic bags, plastic bottles, pressed paper egg cartons and corrugated cardboard the trio made assorted artistic, practical and novelty items. Lynne demonstrated the craft of crocheting plastic bags into hats or drawstring bags. “Plastic bags from Wegman’s work the best,” she said. They also sliced plastic water bottles into strips, coiled them up and formed beads by melting them slightly over an electric hotplate. She also modeled the latest in paper footwear. Other events scheduled were a campus clean-up on Tuesday, a game of “Go Green Jeopardy” and a video presentation on energy saving titled “Kilowatt Ours” on Wednesday, environmental activist speaker Mark Zakutansky on Thursday and a tree planting on Friday.