Sharon Naccarato of Frederica, Delaware, is last year’s winner. The hobbyist and retired postmaster takes discarded metal and welds the items into sculptures of musical instruments and even horseshoe crabs.
This year, Naccarato collected trash while walking her rescue dog Heidi along the beach. She cut out a root beer box, corks and bottle caps and created the shape of owls on canvas. Naccarato said she hopes the competition inspires the general public to remember to recycle and collect trash during their walks outdoors.
“It’s very important, the message of keeping the waterways clean, because there’s so many animals and critters that live in there,” Naccarato said. “I don’t think people realize how such a small amount of trash they throw out, but it adds up over thousands of people.”
Naccarato encourages anyone at home to make their own art out of trash.
“I have no formal training. I’m really not an artist per se in the sense of someone who’s doing paintings,” she said. “But I just think if you try it, anything like that, you’ll find that you are more talented than you think you are.”