E-waste, like old routers, tangled cords and busted remotes, received new purpose last week in Fayetteville. These electronic castoffs became the building blocks for a community sculpture designed by local students and brought to life by artist Eugene Sargent.
The project kicked off Thursday at the Cox Solutions store on Joyce Boulevard, where a group of elementary and middle school students from Springdale Public Schools watched as Sargent sifted through bins of electronic waste.
Sargent is a longtime Arkansas sculptor known for public works in Wilson Park, Gulley Park and Mount Sequoyah. Their challenge last Thursday was to imagine a piece of art that blends creativity and conservation.
“So we’re here to get some ideas to make a sculpture out of e-waste, basically, but things that are broken and come back, you know, that can’t really be reused as is. They need to be recycled. And so we’re going to do some creative recycling. And what I want from you all is just the good ideas, you know, the bubbling in your head.”
The event marked the launch of Cox Conserves and Cox Mobile’s Back to School campaign, a four-week effort encouraging residents in northwest Arkansas, Fort Smith and Harrison to drop off small electronics for recycling at Cox stores. Each participant can also scan a QR code when dropping off waste with Cox to nominate a local school district for a chance at a $5,000 Cox Charities Education grant this fall.
Cox Conserves is the communication company’s nationwide sustainability program, which has invested $165 million since 2007 in conservation and waste diversion projects. Last year, Cox became the first U.S.-based enterprise service company verified as a zero-waste business by Zero Waste USA.
Tina Gabbard is market vice president for Cox’s Greater Arkansas Market. She said the motivation for the program comes from within the company.
“So Cox Conserves is a part of our company and part of our DNA, actually part of the Cox DNA, to give back to the communities that we serve. And we do it in a variety of ways. Our employees volunteer hundreds of hours of their time every year here in Arkansas as well as across the nation. And they do that in every market that we serve with the neighbors that they are neighbors with. And so it’s really a unique thing that we do. And then the other side of that is where we give back environmentally and picking up trash and also recycling and recycling and water diversion and various parts of giving back. Well, I guess environmentally. Yeah. So there’s the environmental part. Then there’s the employee, our giving part. Volunteer part. It’s kind of twofold, but it is very much part of our DNA.”
Gabbard said the campaign ties into Cox’s 34 by 34 goal to be carbon and water neutral by 2034, while helping 34 million people live more prosperous lives. She added that Arkansas stores are already diverting tens of thousands of pounds of e-waste each year, and their customers are dropping off a lot of that.
“Because it’s such a lofty goal, we’re actually launching it in every market that we serve, and so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. We started it last year, so it was a 10-year initiative and we are well underway to meet that goal. We’re exceeding our expectations with it, so I can’t wait to see what happens by ’34.”
To prepare for Thursday’s event, Sargent combed through dumpsters for castoff parts—cable splitters, repeaters, circuit boards or coils of wire. In the students’ eyes, those pieces quickly turned into story prompts. Students saw the scrap becoming body parts, miniature skyscrapers, and plants and animals.
Sargent says he didn’t come into the session with many preconceived ideas.
“I was definitely trying to keep an open mind. And so these kids, you know, their bright minds already are getting the wheels turning, you know, because just getting their response to the materials is really valuable. And generating ideas is kind of a mystical process. And throwing ideas around is really kind of, I think, the fun part.”
By the end of the brainstorming session, a loose consensus emerged around a tree-like structure filled with hidden details—insects fashioned from wires, spider webs made from cables, even a tiny city nestled in its branches.
“One kid saw a palm, an open palm with fingers. And so that’s a really nice symbol. A hand. The circuit boards look like little cities, and a couple of kids pointed that out. So it gets you kind of thinking of that miniature realm. We got the idea of a tree, and since a lot of these circuit boards are green, I could make amazing abstract foliage out of the circuit boards. We thought of the tree having hands and holding the little city, a beehive. And we got the idea of putting little hidden things in there to find, like Easter eggs and the idea for a scavenger hunt, too. So I think we were pretty productive.”
Sargent says he hopes to incorporate solar panels that he designed to be shaped like leaves to light the structure at night. He also plans to return to classrooms so students can help weave cables or build miniature elements to embed in the sculpture and feel involved in the process throughout its creation.
For Joseph Farrell, an eighth grader at Don Tyson School of Innovation, the project was a first.
“I like art, but I’ve never really made something like this, and I’ve never actually contributed to something like this. I think I’m pretty excited. We decided on like a tree and a city thing. I really think it’s fun and I think it’s a really great way to get kids in the community talking about stuff and being involved in something. I’m really excited about this.”
Farrell says he hopes the finished sculpture will become a permanent fixture in the region.
“And excuse the thunder—it stormed last Thursday. I like being involved in the community. I love doing community events. It’s a really fun thing for me and I really love the community. I really love just being involved and stuff.”
The final location for the sculpture has not yet been set, but Gabbard says it will likely be displayed in Cox stores during construction so the public can follow its progress. She also sees the project as more than a one-off campaign.
“I think this is going to be a thing. It doesn’t have to be within a campaign window. I think this is probably going to be the launch and the birth of something pretty special here. I can’t wait to see it.”
For now, the bins at Cox stores across northwest Arkansas, Harrison and the River Valley are ready until Oct. 17, waiting to be filled with discarded devices that might soon take on a second life as art.
Cox Stores accepting donations:
- Fort Smith: 8100 Rogers Ave B
- Fayetteville: 637 E Joyce Blvd #103
- Rogers: 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd #110
- Bentonville: 201 SW 14ht Street
- Harrison: 305 W Stephenson Ave.
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