Katherine may not be a town known for its waste management or recycling, but a small festival is getting residents thinking about ingenious ways of re-purposing junk.
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Taking it to a whole new level is art enthusiast Rachel Platte, who has created a sculpture from the cardboard packing boxes she has used to move house five times.
"It is a moving house," she said, "which represents the transient nature of Katherine as well as the tourist homes on wheels flooding the streets right now."
The house, with all its nooks and crannies, was dragged through the streets of Katherine today to the Lindsay Street Complex where other sculptures were beginning to flow in.
Tackling the escalating waste crisis in its own small way, the annual Junk Arts Festival aims to get people thinking about turning trash marked for landfill into sustainable treasure.
Each year, residents out-do themselves with remarkable sculptures and wearable art - all made from junk.
Frustrated with the lack of urgency on developing a waste management plan which involves recycling, Ms Platte decided to get creative with the rubbish around her.
"Katherine doesn't recycle which means you have to be more savvy about what you buy, but it also means you need to think more about how to re-purpose," she said.
"In today's climate of consumerism, a lot of people don't care about reducing waste, but this festival is bringing those issues to the forefront in a fun way."
The house sculpture has incorporated junk from plastic bottles, old phone books, used nuts and bolts and even old drains.
"Once I had the idea of the house, everything just flowed, mainly because there was so much junk around - the possibilities were endless."
She said she is hoping the design will inspire people to look at materials differently and think twice about sending them to landfill.
In its 7th consecutive year, the Junk Arts Festival creatively tackles the issue of environmental waste reduction through promoting a zero-waste festival policy and offsetting festival emissions, Katherine Regional Arts development officer Carmen Ansaldo said.
"The Junk Arts Festival Awards is the centerpiece of a wider three-day festival program packed with music, food, fashion, theatre, comedy, sustainable living and family-friendly community fun.
"Mambali Band from Numbulwar will headline the night, hot off the heels of their incredible tour of WOMADelaide Festival.
"And for the very first time, writing and literature will also be included in the 2019 festival program with the inclusion of the Writers and Readers Festival - Write Off."
The Junk Arts Festival is happening this Saturday from 5pm at the Lindsay Street Complex.
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