Trash Art Contest

Great Peninsula Future Festival Sponsors
Trash Art Contest for Kids and Adults
The Great Peninsula Future Festival will feature a “Trash Art” Contest for children and adults. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: Ages 10 and under; 11 to 16; and adults. The contest reflects the “sustainability” theme of the nonprofit outdoor festival, August 2-3 in historic Port Gamble.
Groups or individuals can enter artwork, sculptures, murals, etc., made from clean, sanitary trash—materials that would otherwise be recycled or discarded. Entries will be displayed during the two-day festival and prizes awarded Sunday afternoon, August 3.
“The focus of the festival is that learning how to live a greener, more sustainable lifestyle should be fun,” explained Sandra Bauer, chair of the organizing committee. “The trash art contest is just one of the ways we’ll involve kids. We want to stimulate their imaginations and encourage them to think about the tons of stuff people throw away. They are the ones who will inherit the planet.”
According to Bauer, every year the United States generates some 230 million tons of "trash"--about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than a fourth of it is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills. “This is a big problem for the environment,” said Bauer. “We’re producing waste products faster than nature can break them down and using up our resources faster than they can be replaced. We need to rethink our habits and lifestyle choices, because this can’t continue. A simple and obvious choice is to cut back on the amount of waste by reusing and throwing out less in the first place.”
The outdoor festival will mix nonstop family entertainment by top performers, wide-ranging activities for children, healthy local foods, hand-made crafts and educational displays of green products, concepts and technologies.
“Families will come for the fun and give us a teaching moment. We’ll use the opportunity to open their eyes to new possibilities for a greener, more sustainable lifestyle,” said Bauer.
The future festival is the brainchild of Kitsap County Commissioner Steve Bauer, who persuaded his sister, Sandra, to take on the job of chairing the event. Steve was inspired by a sustainability workshop last October led by Rep. Larry Seaquist, in which some 60 Kitsap community leaders spent two days brainstorming on ways to achieve a more sustainable Kitsap County. Steve was so impressed with the level of enthusiasm and interest, he wanted to find ways to build on the workshop and involve the larger community. Many of those involved in the workshop are now part of the festival organizing committee. An experienced event planner, Sandra Bauer was one of the original organizers of the popular Oregon Country Fair.
The GP Future Festival has broad support in the Kitsap business community. Major sponsors include Sound Publishing and its family of Kitsap newspapers; the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County; Wet Apple Media, publishers of the Kitsap Business Journal; The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe; Port Gamble (Olympic Property Group); and Kitsap County Commissioners Steve Bauer and Josh Brown.
For more information, visit the GPFF website at www.GreatPeninsulaFutureFestival.org or call 425-788-7498.