From http://www.unnaturalresources.org/:
“Our community nonprofit’s mission is to inspire residents to reuse/recycle our resources into new projects and products hoping to create entrepreneurs as well as bring out the creativity in people. We put on an Eastern Carolina Unnatural Resources Fair in February at the convention center also with booths for those people who would like to display their reuse products or have a need to spread the word about city, county, state recycling as well as sustainability programs.
North Carolina throws away enough resources to go around the world 2x each year. 80% of them can be reused. We do recycle certain items but there are still many kinds of things that are not going to the landfills.
Eastern North Carolina only has 7 state municipal landfills in for 29 state. Pitt Country doesn’t have one. We transport by truck all our trash to Bertie County. There are some of the state landfills that have less than 8 years left on them before they are closed by the state. After Florence there will be a lot less room in them. Landfills cost millions to build because they have to be lined so they won’t leak into drinking water and be placed on certain kinds of soil as well as no one wants one in their backyard. There is always a fight on where they are going to put the next one. It is imperative that all of us see what we can make from all these perfectly good resources because most can be remade into other usable items.
This is what we are about and our program is designed to be used by any school, state, or individual. We give awards for their creativity. The program was founded in Pitt County in an elementary school and it is the only one in the country. Every state has the same waste problem. If NC throws away what we do, then what does the whole country throw away.? That is the question. We must get a handle on our waste. What we are all about is the sustainability of our resources.”
This organization is hoping that there are students who understand their work and can give some of their time to help. If you are interested in getting involved with this organization contact Dr. Mary Tucker-McLaughlin at
tuckermclaughlinm@ecu.edu