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Ohio Wesleyan University staff member David Soliday was honored this month with a Recycling Award presented by the Delaware Public Health District's Keep Delaware County Beautiful program.
The award is presented annually to an individual who makes "significant contributions to recycling and waste-reduction efforts" in the county. Soliday, an OWU Information Services employee and Sustainable Delaware Ohio board member, was recognized for "his longtime advocacy for reducing and reusing in the community."
In sharing news of the 2025 award, the Health District stated that "Soliday helped establish the Upcycling Center at Ohio Wesleyan University, where staff, students, and residents can donate or pick up items such as art supplies, office materials, and media for free. He also led the launch of Delaware's first Repair Café, an event pairing skilled volunteers with community members to fix household items – keeping them out of landfills and saving residents money."
Soliday, who joined the OWU staff in 2008, said he is honored to be recognized with the Recycling Award and grateful that so many Ohio Wesleyan offices, colleagues, and students collaborated to help improve the environment.
"I appreciate the flexibility in my primary role – in Information Services – to be able to engage in other ways on campus," Soliday said, "and all of that creative reuse work would not be possible without the cooperation and support of (professor) Kristina Bogdanov and the Fine Arts Department.
"I'm also indebted to the Bishop Elevate internship program and Community Service Learning for providing funds for student interns," he said. "The current Upcycling Center intern, sophomore Charlie Holbrooks, has been a great help and adds her own creativity to our work together.
"For me, it's nice to get away from (computer) screens and so much digital for a while to work with my hands and make things in new and interesting ways," said Soliday, OWU's instructional technologist. "Then there's building partnerships and connections in the community, meeting new people, and letting them know about this great resource for materials."
The Upcycling Center at Ohio Wesleyan University is located in Haycock Hall, 31 Hayes St., Delaware. Since 2023, it has been accepting donations of materials intended to inspire artists and help them to create one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Earlier this year, the center created a for-profit arm and began selling items at events and online at EBTH.com.
Soliday still is finalizing year-end stats for the center but said it saw "a considerable increase" in activity over 2024. In 2025, he said, the Upcycling Center:
Soliday wasn't the only Bishop recognized at the Dec. 11 award ceremony. Anna Pellegrin, general manager of The 1842 student hub, accepted the Community Stewardship Award on behalf of the North Central Ohio Pollinator Pathway. This Keep Delaware County Beautiful award "recognizes exceptional actions that improve environmental conditions in neighborhoods and communities."
"The North Central Ohio Pollinator Pathway earned this year's honor for its work creating connectivity between pollinator habitats across Delaware County and beyond," the Health District stated. Their work supports essential pollinator species and strengthens ecological resilience countywide."
Learn more about Keep Delaware County Beautiful at delawarehealth.org/keep-delaware-county-beautiful, more about the North Central Ohio Pollinator Pathway at northcentralohiopollinatorpathway.org, and more about the Upcycling Center at Ohio Wesleyan University, including both donating and obtaining materials, at owu.edu/upcycling.