Friday, February 17, 2012

The Beauty in Single Use Plastics

One of the things I love most about working with reclaimed single-use plastic trash is that, in its own weird way, it’s beautiful.



That may sound nuts, but this stuff is all designed by someone to attract our attention. The bright colors, the fun patterns - all are intended to get our attention in a crowded store.


And I gotta say, they work.


I first started collecting plastic bottle caps because they couldn’t be recycled curbside, and they just looked like they ought to be good for something. And those bright dabs of color looked a lot like dots of paint . . . not surprising since modern acrylic paints are, well, plastic.



Next, I dove into plastic bags and food packaging – I had read an article about fusing plastics to make a kind of material, and I was excited to try it! Besides, there had to be something I could do with all of those frozen burrito wrappers my boyfriend was producing . . .



A lot of the fun for me has been figuring out ways to use these materials in a way that really brings out their beauty!



Thanks to a RACC Project Grant and Cheryl over at Create Plenty, I'll be headed into Trillium Charter High School on February 27th to share the beauty (and the dangers) of single-use plastics with two classes of Earth Sciences students.


We're still in the last phases of fundraising for the project, and you can find the plastic quilt pictured above, "Bird on a Wire" for sale here, at the Create Plenty website.

4 comments:

Sarah Sequins said...

Plastic bottle caps can make some really pretty art. We save ours, too.

Have you ever heard of Michelle Stitzlein? She makes these awesome bottle cap flowers. I've been to her studio before, and she's a fantastically sweet person.

http://artgrange.com/michellebio.html

Bridget said...

Saturday Sequins, thank you for sharing Michelle Stitzlein's work!! This is great - just ordered both of her books!

Michael5000 said...

Great pics! How did the school visit go?

Bridget said...

I've done 2 of my 12 days - it's fun and challenging - I'm really excited to see what the kids pull together - right now, we're still talking about history, disposal, and impact. I have learned so much doing the research for this class!!

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