Martin Li, Deng Wenwen

    martin.mouse@163.com

    THE top 10 participants of a citywide art competition painted their winning pieces on 10 clothing bins in the main hall of Shenzhen Media Group’s office building in Futian District yesterday to encourage clothing recycling.

    The competition was jointly launched last month by the district’s urban management bureau and the domestic garbage classification management center in Shenzhen. The competition received more than 130 entries submitted by professional painters, clothing designers, architects and students.

    An 8-year-old primary school student, Zhou Ziqi, painted colorful buildings on a bin. He named it “Colorful City.”

    “Our city is colorful and so are our clothes. I hope this colorful box will encourage more people to donate clothes to people in need,” Zhou told Shenzhen Daily.

    Zhou said he has donated clothes.

    A woman named Tang Dauski painted a girl in a colorful sporty dress running through a colorful forest. The painting is called “Environment-friendly Girl.”

    “I like this activity,” Tang’s American husband, Tyler Roiko, told Shenzhen Daily while his wife concentrated on painting. “In the United States, lots of people donate clothes. Charity can help some people who don’t have enough money to buy clothes; it is also good for the environment.”

    Roiko said that exchanging clothes is better than throwing them away. “When people see these paintings on the recycling boxes, no matter where they are from in this city, they may be encouraged to start recycling,” he continued.

    Tang said clothing bins with funny and creative paintings could draw more attention to environmental protection.

    “Environmental protection needs not only a full commitment, but also some commercial support,” said Tang.

    The top 10 paintings will be exhibited around the city, according to the organizer.

    There are more than 300 collection bins located in local residential communities. Futian plans to put another 600 clothing bins into use within the year, most of which will bear the excellent paintings.

    In addition to the on-the-spot painting, yesterday’s event also drew residents donating old clothes.

    “Old clothes are useless at home, but they can be meaningful again when they are donated,” said a man, surnamed Chen, who donated clothes yesterday.

    Chen said he would encourage his friends to donate clothes.