Idaho Falls Earth Day celebration goes artistic

Re’Eclectique in Idaho Falls will be showing art pieces made from recycled material at the Idaho Falls Earth Day celebration Saturday at the Tautphaus Park Zoo.

Items in the shop include a burned out light bulb created into a candle holder, a men’s tie transformed into a bracelet and a teapot turned into a lamp.

Owners Monica Purcell and Sherri Biorn create the items. Since mid-October, the shop has been open, taking donations from people and rummaging through garbage cans and thrift stores for items.

“I found those in the trash. I mean somebody replaced their vents on their heaters and threw those away, but I felt I could color them up and paint them,” said Biorn.

“Things that people would not normally use again, they throw it away. It’s kind of like a disposable society where we want bigger and better things. It’s like, look at it a second way and how can you make it work,” said Purcell.

Purcell repurposes furniture and Biorn reinvents home decor.

“When you purchase something from here, it’s got a story. It’s got a little bit of us in it. It makes it a lot more unique than a carbon copy of something else,” said Biorn.

Both owners have a strong belief in recycling and believe everything has two purposes.

“If more and more people were conscious about the footprint they’re going to leave on the Earth, it doesn’t matter what we own or what we have, it matters how we treat people while we’re here,” said Purcell.

“What I like to hear is when people say, ‘thank you for doing this.’ That makes us feel really, really good,” said Biorn.

Items in the shop can cost from $8 to $500.

Earth Day was celebrated worldwide Monday.