close

Peters ‘TRASHion Show’ raises awareness about reuse, recycling

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
1 / 10

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Ethan Campion demonstrates what can be done with wrapping paper instead of tossing it into the trash.

2 / 10

Sami Casilli, left, and Peyton Roy team up to make an impression.

3 / 10

Brooke Hjerpe shows how snack bags can be put to good use.

4 / 10

Kiera Dicky displays her paper creation.

5 / 10

Zachary Sepich walks the stage.

6 / 10

Joe Richetti walks the stage.

7 / 10

Luke Kelly walks the stage

8 / 10

Caitlin Ulrich walks the stage.

9 / 10

Amanda Kolson walks the stage.

10 / 10

Jake Deemer serves as emcee for the TRASHion Show.

The scene at Peters Township High School was reminiscent of Jacobim Mugatu’s “Derelicte” launch, minus the foiled assassination of a prime minister.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Jake Deemer gives a description of Sarah Babyak’s outfit.

Advanced placement environmental science students did their own take on the climactic sequence of the fashion-industry spoof “Zoolander” by putting on what they call the TRASHion Show, strutting across the school auditorium’s stage in outfits made of recycled or discarded materials.

“The students have been diligently working all year, learning about environmental issues, doing some problem solving and really digging into information that’s out there,” principal Lori Pavlik said. “Once the AP test was done, this was something they wanted to do, start putting some of the things they learned into practice in a fun kind of way.”

The May 30 event, which raised money through admission and donations for the Canonsburg Lake Restoration and Improvement Committee, featured costumes fashioned from the likes of boxes, bags, paper, plastic bottles, cans and compact discs.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Josh Trombitas wows the audience as a Marvel Comics-inspired character.

“I thought they did a fantastic job,” science teacher Keith Compeggie said. “After the AP exam, it kind of relieves the stress a little bit, and it allows them get outside of the textbook and be a little bit more creative.”

Student Jake Deemer served as emcee, introducing his classmates who took the stage and offering various facts pertaining to refuse and recycling.

“Did you know that around 95 percent of all cardboard boxes are thrown away after one use?” he asked at one point. “Today, over 90 percent of the goods in the United States are shipped in cardboard boxes. Seventy percent of that cardboard is recovered from recycling, but 30 percent goes into landfills.”

Going neither route was the cardboard that Josh Trombitas used to create the hit of the show: an Iron Man costume, looking like it was straight out of Marvel Comics.

“I really like all the movies, and I was thinking, hey, maybe it can’t be that hard. And I don’t know where I got that idea,” he said. “But once I had the idea, I really just couldn’t stop. I had to roll with it.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Karli Blair collaborated on her outfit with classmate Mary Rauscher.

Classmates Mary Rauscher and Karli Blair collaborated on putting together a costume.

“We’re doing this to raise awareness about all the trash we use, because you don’t realize it until we can make full outfits out it,” Mary said. “It turned out way better than we thought. She rocked it onstage for us.”

Karli, who did the walking, explained the pair’s fashion choices of primarily newspaper pages and compact discs.

“We thought that the CDs would look really cool with the lights because of the reflection,” she said. “We wanted a big skirt to show and look like a prom dress, so we thought the newspapers would be a good touch.”

Josh’s mother, Jan Trombitas, attended the show and said she was impressed with the concept and the awareness it raised about the need for reuse and recycling.

“As I saw the items cross the stage, it really brought it home to these kids,” she said. “I believe that they’re going to be way better than we were.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Clayton Scott prepares to conquer the runway.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $/week.

Subscribe Today