Where trash becomes treasure
BY JIMMY PATON
In a Duke Chapel closet, boxes brim with paper chains made from discarded book covers, each link bearing a handwritten name to remember someone’s beloved dead. This Say the Thing project has grown for two years, finding profound new meaning last October when the links cascaded over Duke Chapel’s first Día de los Muertos ofrenda, uniting sacred tradition with sustainable practice.
An ofrenda, Spanish for “offering,” is a traditional altar central to the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos. It is built to honor and welcome the spirits of the deceased, often decorated with photos, candles, marigolds, and personal items to welcome the spirits back.
“The symbolism is not lost on people,” reflects Rev. Leah Torrey, Duke Chapel’s Director of Special Initiatives. “These materials were once living, doomed to be dead, but through our work and their willingness to inscribe the names, they’re reanimated into something living”.
Say the Thing’s sacred circularity found new reach when Sophia Masciarelli, Sustainability Engagement Coordinator for Duke’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, discovered students making art from discarded materials. “I was struck by how innovative Say the Thing’s ethos was,” Masciarelli remembers. “Interweaving circularity with mindfulness, joy, play, creativity, and community was unlike anything I’d seen at Duke”. Recognizing the program’s potential, Masciarelli proposed a partnership, connecting Say the Thing with the Green Devil internship program funded by the Office of Climate and Sustainability.
Through this collaboration, Lalie Marie and Yujin Kim joined as the program’s first interns, bringing expertise and energy that has dramatically expanded its reach. “They’ve taken the work to a new level,” Torrey says. “They’ve scaled it out and professionalized it while keeping the wild heart of the project beating”.
That wild heart pulses through every creation.
Anthologies printed on library discards and outdated Chapel stationery become unique treasures. Encyclopedia pages transform into wisdom talismans, stamped with symbols of courage or wisdom, then sealed in bottle caps from campus establishments. Sheet music decommissioned from Duke Chapel services becomes vibrant posters that make recipients’ faces light up with delight.
“When we tell them the paper comes from Duke Chapel, they practically run over,” Torrey laughs. “There’s magnetism in knowing it was destined for trash. They see the treasure in it, and by loving it, they make it treasured”.
The bottlecap talisman project especially resonates with Kim, who helped develop it through experimentation. “The trial-and-error process was really fun,” she says. Built on support from partners like the Kenan Institute for Ethics, The Purpose Project, and the Office of the Dean of Duke Chapel, the collaboration united Duke Libraries, the Broadhead Center, the Scrap Exchange, and the Innovation Co-Lab.
Beyond diverting materials from landfills, Say the Thing helps students explore their moral agency through craft. “We ask students to invest in their future wellbeing through self-reflection while we simultaneously invest by divesting from systems that limit future possibilities,” Torrey explains. “The energy becomes exponential”.
For Lalie Marie, a Masters of Environmental Management candidate, the experience has been transformative. “Learning to educate others about circularity through our events is a skill I’ll carry throughout my career”. Kim values how the program reframes sustainability beyond individual choice. “It highlights our moral authority in understanding our place within ourselves and the world”.
This October, when the paper chain returns to grace the ofrenda alongside marigolds and photographs, it will carry even more names and memories: more transformed materials finding sacred purpose. The partnership demonstrates how Duke Chapel weaves together spiritual growth and environmental stewardship in pursuit of a more beautiful and just world.
