During the Thanksgiving weekend, Envirolution™ got into the holiday spirit by entering the second annual Lights of Kindness Christmas Tree Decorating Contest. Amongst some 75 trees on display at the Legends Outlet Mall in Sparks, our “Envirotree” will compete for its share of a prize donation that organizers estimate at around $5000. Additionally, for every two votes we receive, $1.00 of the proceeds will be donated directly to us, all of which will be used to support our educational programming in the area.
If you’ve been by Legends in the past week and have seen our Envirotree, then I’m sure you are well aware of how incredibly polished and elegant it is, and how refined our tree decorating sensibilities are. To many viewers it must certainly look as though we had prepared meticulously for weeks, or perhaps months, to design this pinnacle of holiday achievement. It may surprise you then to know that we found out about this contest the day before the decorating was going to take place. We were certainly surprised. Yet, in typical Envirolution™ fashion we pooled our resources, drafted a plan and set straight to work on a sustainability-themed, repurposed and recycled tree. Though our office/workshop ended up a little worse for the wear, we pulled it off. On our tree you can find:
- Incandescent light bulb terrarium ornaments
- A garland made from plastic milk bottle caps
- Paper crane ornaments made from grocery bags
- A garland made from dyed and knotted t-shirt strips
- Snowflake ornaments made from plastic strawberry baskets
- Repurposed pinecone ornaments
- A Three Spheres tree topper made from mason jar rings
If that wasn’t enough, we’ve been intermittently powering our tree’s eco-sensible LED lights with a bike powered generator, taking it completely off the grid. On Black Friday, I took a shift on the generator, cycling for about four hours. People loved it. Kids, especially, were thrilled to see the tree light up whenever I started pedaling. If they were lucky enough to hang around the tree for a few moments, they got to hear me explain how magnets spin inside the generator to create electricity, or how the chemical energy from breakfast is transferred, through motion, to electrical energy that can power our lights. Yes, even on a holiday weekend Envirolution’s™ energy education carries on!
Visit our tree at the Legends Outlet Mall in Sparks through December 5th, or vote for us online!