LOUISVILLE, Ky.--When conjuring up images of beauty pageant contestants, people rarely envision someone rifling through trash cans looking for recyclables. However, that's exactly the type of person Emma Rhodes is.
Rhodes, a rising Bellarmine sophomore and member of the dance team, served as Miss Kentucky in the Teen Miss Earth Pageant this summer in Washington, DC.  

"At Bellarmine, I'm known as the girl who picks through the trash for plastic," Rhodes admits. However, that trait fits perfectly with the mission of Teen Miss Earth USA, which "seeks to provide a platform for America's women to be a voice for environmental responsibility, while featuring these beauties for a cause in fashion, media and leadership opportunities," according to its website.

At the national pageant, which was held July 9-14, Rhodes—a Louisville native and Assumption graduate—did her university, hometown and home state proud by making it all the way to the pageant's top eight.

Prior to the actual competition, the contestants all participated in photo shoots, completed a service project (helping to clean up the National Mall), attended a presentation on environmental change, and gave a two and a half minute speech on why they would be good candidates to represent the U.S. at the international competition. 

The preliminaries, held Friday, July 13 at the Crystal City Marriott, featured swimsuit, runway and evening gown segments.  The following day, after an opening number, the top 12 contestants were announced and they participated in a runway presentation in which they wore cocktail dresses. The field of 12 was then trimmed to the top eight, and those finalists repeated the evening gown and swimsuit modeling.  The top four, of which Rhodes was not included, then answered on stage questions to help determine the eventual winner.

"I'm just happy I represented Kentucky so well," Rhodes said, adding that one of the most rewarding parts of competing was making friendships all over the country with women who share the same passion for environmental issues.

As the state representative, Rhodes was given the opportunity to speak to the Kentucky chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and delivered a message on the "plastic epidemic." She said the use of plastics is one of the greatest threats to the environment since it takes an extremely long time to decompose, and when it finally does, it's toxic.

At her presentation to the Women Business Owners, she distributed bamboo straws and talked about the harmful effects of plastic straws, of which Americans are estimated to use 500 million straws per day.

"I try not to drill people when I talk about the environment," Rhodes said. "I hope that I can inspire them to create change."

Although the competition is over, Rhodes said she is being encouraged by state organizers to compete again next year.  If she does, she will compete in the "adult" level (Miss Earth USA as opposed to Teen Miss Earth).

For now, Rhodes—an education major—is back focusing on her other interests such as school, musical theater and dance.  In fact, shortly after returning from the national pageant, Rhodes helped the Bellarmine Dance Team earn a bid to nationals with its performance at the recent summer camp.