[KHTS] – Winners of the 2014 “cArt aRt” competition were announced by city of Santa Clarita officials on Friday.

Santa Clarita residents transformed recycling bins into works of art and displayed them alongside the environmental services booth at the city’s annual Earth Arbor Day Festival on April 12 to be judged by a panel of three city staff members and festival attendees.

“We wanted to promote recycling, and one way to do that was to bring more attention to the environmental services booth,” said Mark Patti, city of Santa Clarita’s project development coordinator. “It’s also fun to do and gets people participating.”

Votes were cast based on five categories: Grand Prize, Most Creative, Best Local Flair, Best Green Theme and Fan Favorite, city officials said.

Out of eight entries total, four contestants took home cash prizes:

Grand Prize ($200): “Recycle Tron”

Most Creative ($100): “Modge Podge Mish Mash”

Best Local Flair ($100): “Someone’s Been Recycling in our Bin”

Best Green Theme ($100): “Feed Me Please”

Fan Favorite ($50): “Feed Me Please”

The “cArt aRt” competition is designed to raise awareness about recycling by encouraging residents to get creative with trash carts, decorating them with paint, art supplies and recycled items, city officials said.

The contest is held as part of the city’s annual Earth Arbor Day Festival, which features eco-giveaways, tips and tools to help Santa Clarita residents “go green” in their daily lives.

“We’re always looking for the creativity of the public and having fun with the event,” Patti said. “This is the third time we’ve done the competition, so it was really cool to continue it.”

For more information about Santa Clarita’s “go green” initiatives, click here.