CRANBERRY TWP — Aspiring artists will have an opportunity to turn their plastic and glass bottles and other recyclables into artwork as the Recycled Art Contest returns for its second year.

Artists will vie for the Garby Awards, a competition introduced by the township and Cranberry Township Community Chest as part of CTCC Community Days, held in July.

This year’s contest is sponsored by Waste Management, the contractor for Cranberry Township’s Collection Connection solid waste program.

Lorin Meeder, Cranberry’s environmental projects coordinator, said the contest is a way of celebrating the community’s great recycling rates and of showcasing a unique art form.

It also helps to keep the need for recycling in the public and helps create awareness, Meeder said.

“We’re hoping a lot of artists get involved. It’s really a good time,” he said.

Entries in the competition are to be made exclusively of items eligible for recycling in Cranberry Township. Those include bottles, jars, paperboard containers, food and beverage cans, paper and cardboard.

The materials may be fastened together into either lifelike or abstract forms, according to the judgment of the artist.

In the inaugural year of the contest, Cassidy Friedrich’s recycled floral arrangement won first prize in the Recycled Art Contest during Cranberry Community Days last year.

Friedrich’s entry, made primarily of soda cans, was titled “Recycling Can Make Everything Beautiful.” She won $250 and the Garby Award.

Second place went to Marcy Bates and her artwork “The Read Queen,” while third place went to “The Windmill,” by Maria Murra.

Clubs, classes and organizations, as well as individuals, are eligible to participate in the competition.

There are no age or residency restrictions. The top three winners receive cash awards: $250 for first place, $100 for second, $50 for third.

To enter, complete and return the application form posted at www.ctchest.org. Applications must be accompanied by an entry fee of $10.

Art entries can be delivered starting June 15 to the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road. Work can be submitted until the Community Days event, which begins July 7. Judging will occur July 8.

Profits from the competition will be used to finance startup of the Cranberry Art Association.

Bruce Mazzoni, CTCC treasurer, said the effort to revive a fine arts group was started with last year’s contest. Cranberry previously had a fine arts society that sponsored an annual arts festival.

That group, named the Cranberry Council for the Arts, was last active in the mid-1990s.

There is money already earmarked for the group’s start up and the money raised from entry fees will add to that fund, said Mazzoni.

“We’re really excited about this year’s contest and hoping for a lot of entries,” he said.