Q1 Reuse & [Re]Think Winner: Cindy S!

This winter we challenged our creative reuse community to rethink that most common corporate branded item: lanyards. Each year, the Austin Convention Center hosts approximately 300,000 visitors, many of whom receive a lanyard upon registration and check-in. After the event, many are discarded and end up in landfills, but some wind up in the donation streams of various organizations, including at Austin Creative Reuse. Lanyards are typically very durable and made of strong, synthetic materials, making them perfect for repurposing in other applications!

After reviewing your submissions for new ways to think about lanyards, our panel of judges is delighted to congratulate Cindy S as the winner of 2025’s Q1 Reuse & [Re]Think Challenge. 

Cindy used lanyards from ACR to weave a durable and colorful wine tote. She even used the extra clips as decorative fringe around the top!

Our panel was impressed with how Cindy rethought and reused these materials to make a utilitarian tote bag that will give these lanyards a much longer life than they were otherwise destined to have.

Cindy said that she was encouraged to enter our challenge by her sister, who is a teacher and a “frequent customer” of ACR, and that if she won she would offer her gift card to her sister.

Cheers to you, Cindy! And thank you to all who entered this quarter’s challenge. Check out more submissions below!