From the inside out | America Recycles Day: The Art of Glassblowing | Parks Recreation

Upcoming events

• The Anita Purves Nature Center (and Nature Shop) is open free to all visitors Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free PreK class Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to noon from November 8th to December 13th. Come by any time during program times. Free Nature Connection Hike on November 12th from 5:30pm to 6:30pm at Perkins Road Wet Prairie (meet at Urbana Dog Park property). Free Winter Solstice Celebration on December 20th from 4 to 7 p.m.

Call 217-384-4062 or visit urbanaparks.org for registration and more information.

The Anita Purves Nature Center is hosting an exciting event with demonstrations by a local glassblowing artist. We are celebrating America Recycles Day on November 2nd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is not required and the event is free and interesting for all age groups. We hope this event provides valuable insights into innovative and artistic glass recycling methods while educating participants about recycling methods and processes. This event is in partnership with the City of Champaign’s U-Cycle program and the Idea Store.

We invite anyone interested to join us to learn more about recycling and watch the incredible transformation of recycled glass into art. Renowned artist Jason Mack Glass will be on hand to offer live demonstrations of glassblowing using recycled glass. Attendees will have the exciting opportunity to explore the artist’s custom-built and mobile glass blowing kiln and watch as he brings his beautiful transformations to life.

Glass blowing is a great way to recycle glass. It helps conserve resources by creating art from things others would consider trash.

Recycling glass is widely recognized as an environmentally conscious choice, but unfortunately there are several challenges to ensuring that the glass placed in your recycling bin is recycled effectively. Glass is quite heavy and bulky, which increases transportation costs and makes melting processes more expensive. Additionally, the fragility of the material can pose a dangerous risk to workers at recycling plants. Single-stream recycling collection mixes glass with other materials, making sorting difficult and increasing the chance of contamination – often making the glass unsuitable for recycling. These complications have led some recycling communities to discontinue curbside glass recycling programs entirely.

However, there are several innovative approaches that allow individuals to reuse disposable glass items once they have served their purpose. Limiting overall consumption is an important part of reducing waste, and eliminating single-use materials can go a long way toward achieving this. With this event, we would like to encourage everyone to not only reduce their glass consumption in general, but also to think more critically about what happens to our waste at the end of its life. The possibilities to be creative with glass are endless and we want to inspire attendees to leave the show motivated to reuse their glass products at home.

We will be hosting several exciting story times about recycling for everyone to enjoy. Plus, get ready for some fun face painting from the talented Wild Style Design Company! The Idea Store will also organize some creative upcycling craft stations. Finally, be sure to take advantage of the City of Champaign’s U-Cycle program’s valuable glass recycling resources. We hope to see you there!

Rachel Waltermire is a public environmental programs assistant for the Urbana Park District at the Anita Purves Nature Center, 1505 N. Broadway Ave., Urbana. She can be reached at rmwaltermire@urbanaparks.org.