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Made by milk

Evergreen Packaging, Memphis, Tennessee, has announced Benjamin N. Cardozo High School from Bayside, New York, as the grand prize winner in the paperboard carton manufacturer’s Made by Milk Carton Construction Contest.

With a spring 2014 “Stories” theme, students were encouraged to build characters, symbols or scenes from their favorite fairy tales. The winning school used 1,250 cartons to recreate a scene from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, titled “Alice and Absolem’s Milk Made Hideaway.” Benjamin N. Cardozo High School’s creation includes a life-size replica of Alice, Absolem the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat.

Ninety-eight entries from schools across the U.S. submitted their milk carton designs for a chance to win up to $5,000.

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School says it plans to use its grand prize money to fund recycled art classes at the school.

To see all of the spring 2014 submissions, visit www.madebymilkcontest.com.

GreenDrop recycling

Coffee and food services provider Farmer Bros. Co., Torrance, California, has chosen GreenDrop recycling stations to collect recyclable and compostable material from locations at which it operates. Farmer Bros. says its objective is to reach 100 percent landfill diversion by the year 2015.

The GreenDrop Recycling Station, a multibin, 88-gallon system made of 100 percent recycled content, was designed in cooperation with the management of the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team and the Moda Center arena, formerly known as the Rose Garden, the home court of the Trail Blazers.

Pacific Cascade Corp., the Vancouver, Washington-based maker of the GreenDrop Recycling Station, says the arena’s landfill diversion rate increased from 38 percent in 2007 to more than 90 percent in 2013 in part by replacing older garbage cans with GreenDrop recycling bins.

Pacific Cascade Corp. says the bins “reduce landfill contributions by enabling Farmer Bros. employees to easily sort recyclable and compostable items.”

For more information about Farmer Bros.’ recycling efforts, visit www.farmerbros.com.

In addition to using the GreenDrop Recycling Station, Farmer Bros. has developed programs to divert an estimated 1.5 million pounds of packaging machine scrap from landfills each year.

Scrap sculpting

Growing up in western South Dakota, sculptor John Lopez has maintained a rodeo and western theme to his bronze sculptures over the years. When his Aunt Effie Hunt died a few years ago, Lopez moved in with his Uncle Geno Hunt to build a family cemetery on his ranch. Once Lopez ran out of building material after completing a perimeter fence for the project, he searched for scrap iron on site, and his new career was born.

Since he started scrap iron sculpting, Lopez has created many sculptures of horses, buffalo and cowboys out of scrap metal and each averaging 1,500 pounds. Chains, bolts, wrenches and tractor seats, as well as other parts and pieces, make up the life-sized sculptures. He even formed a peacock structure out of silverware.

Today, ranchers and farmers donate scrap iron to him, he says. “This country is loaded with scrap iron piles that date back to homesteading times,” Lopez adds.

For more information and to see his work, visit www.johnlopezstudio.com.