STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Laurie Moss couldn’t bear to part with her husband’s 501 jeans when he could no longer use them. So, she turned them into handbags.

Moss displayed some of her handbags made of the denim jeans and upholstery pieces at the seventh annual Earth Day Festival this week in Hailey, hoping to inspire others to turn discarded clothing into something useful.

“I made quite a few, giving them as gifts. Then I told those at my church that, if they wanted to make a donation for a bag, I would donate the donation to Emmanuel Episcopal’s ADA ramp fund,” she said.

Aitana Casas shows off a butterfly that she cut out and colored at SVMoA’s booth.

One of the bags made of black denim features zebra striped upholstery on the sides, as well as a zebra belt that Moss found at the Emmanuel Episcopal Thrift Store

She augmented it with traditional Sashiko Japanese embroidery and a couple different buttons. And she used a zipper she’d found at an unusable item donated to the thrift store  to create a zippered purse inside the bag.

“I grew up on a sugar beat and soybean farm near Fargo, N.D., and we didn’t throw anything away,” she said.

Moss was among those taking part in a Fix It Clinic at the festival designed to help people repair or upcycle things to keep them out of the landfill.

Jamila Gaona learned how to cut a star off a shirt and sew it onto her sweatpants to cover a spot that wouldn’t come out as Josue Gaona looks on.

Amy Johnson weighed one man’s pruning shears and other garden tools before he took them to be sharpened as she prepared to show how many pounds of things volunteers had saved from the landfill during the Earth Fest. Representatives from Sturtevants and Patagonia fixed ski clothing, while others fixed lamps and toasters.

Outside, the Sun Valley Museum of Art’s Ava Scanlan and Dianne Sanchez showed parents and their kids how to use a kid’s jigsaw to cut cardboard in the shape of rockets, alligators, elephants and butterflies.

“We’re going to have to get a couple more jigsaws next year this activity is so popular,” said Sanchez. “I think the parents enjoy this activity as much, if not more, than the kids.”

Rowyn Aoyama and Ruby Rager showed youngsters how to weave discarded yarn across cardboard hearts using popsicle sticks as crochet needles on behalf of JustServe.org, which connects volunteers with organizations who need volunteers.

Four-year-old Wylder Wilson and his 15-month-old brother Myles Wilson won Best Costume for their Super Hero outfits in the 5K Fun Run.

Those taking  part in trunk sales offered an array of intriguing treasures, including a large hammock and a bicycle built for two.

And law enforcement officers and MSCL representatives teamed up to remind to lock up prescription medicine in cute little cases resembling tiny lunch boxes and to remove unused or old medications.

“Open to See How You Can Make a Difference” a stamp on a bathroom cabinet read as passersby opened it to find material promoting National Take Back Prescription Medicine Day. A toilet with red tape across seat and a sign “Don’t Do It!” reminded people of the harmful effects flushing prescription medicine can have on the environment, on wildlife and even humans.

Nicholas Gardiner and Cyrus Pott, both members of the Wood River High School Environmental Club, waved an Earth Day flag welcoming those taking part in the 5K Earth Day Fun Run back

Cyrus Pott and Nicholas Gardiner wave an Earth Day flag welcoming 5K fun run participants back to the Earth Day Festival.

“We’ve only got one earth so it’s important to take care of it,” said Gardiner. “I want people to realize that the little things add up: Don’t litter. Recycle, Bike instead of driving.”

Organizer Elizabeth Jeffrey said between 700 and 800 people turned out with significant crowds from beginning to end. Fifty volunteers assisted and the number of race participants was the most ever, raising the funds to pay for all the costs of the event with a bit leftover to start up next year’s event.

“We diverted 133 pounds of worn or broken goods from the landfill by sharpening tools and fixing clothes, and that didn’t include clothing and goods sold in the trunk sale,” she said. “Each of the trunk sale families said they sold at least $50 more worth of items this year than last.”