RENEW, REBUILD . . . RECYCLE?

For years, Donna Gibson, Carol Bradford and Bernard Walsh diligently sorted the trash from their Mid-City homes: cans, newspapers and glass bottles deposited into brightly colored bins that would line the curbs early in the morning once a week.

The 7 feet of water that swallowed their homes along Banks Street 19 months ago also swallowed the plastic bins. But even the storm of a generation has a hard time wiping out old habits.

After Hurricane Katrina, the neighbors' newspapers became cage liners at the local animal shelter. Canvas bags became rolled-up window insulators. Styrofoam peanuts helped aerate the soil below potted plants. Discarded wrought iron and empty glass bottles went to local artists.

"There's a lot of creativity going on," Gibson said. "A lot of it is: Reuse it until it falls apart."

That creativity has become the only outlet for conscientious residents after Hurricane Katrina drowned nearly all government recycling programs in the greater New Orleans area.

more from the Times Picayune