Plastic Water

For 1.5 years I saved our plastic wrap waste. I had an idea to make an art installation but the shear volume of plastic was telling.

We are a family of two humans and two dogs, and we take a lot of steps to avoid one time use plastic. We have switched most toiletries and cleaning supplies to plastic free packaging. We minimize our takeout food, try to select naked fruits and vegetables, carry reusable shopping bags and steal water bottles.

four bags of plastic

Despite efforts, in our area it is nigh impossible to get all of our produce without plastic packaging. Most nonfood items from stationary to odd online orders show up with plastic wrapping. After 1.5 years we had four large bags of clear plastic wrap.

small portion of LDPE

As I worked on my art instalation, I quickly became aware that the plastic would not behave the way I had intended and I only managed to use a small portion of the LDPE plastic for my art installation, “Plastic Water.” This was featured in my exhibition 水と山 (Water and Mountain.

I did learn a lot

In the end most of the plastic had to be set out with the rubbish. Some would be recycled but even this process has waste. I learned a lot about the seven types of plastic and became more aware of how much plastic waste we still go through. This is both a seller and consumer problem. We have managed to make a few more changes to our lifestyle but it is a process. I would encourage readers to track their own plastic waste and consider how it can be limited step by step.