Recycled Art: Plastic Bags!

 This week in recycled art, we learned about the problem of plastic bags, and the facts are astounding.

Did you know…

In the US, each person uses 365 plastic grocery bags per year?

A plastic grocery bag will take over 1,000 years to decompose?

90% of the birds who live near the ocean and fish are believed to have eaten micro plastics?

In some countries plastic bags are illegal? 

These were a few of the facts we looked at this week as we contemplated the ways in which we could use less plastic.  The kids had some great ideas of things we could do to use less plastic, like bring our own reusable bags and use reusable containers for food storage. 

We then looked at artist Mbongenzi Buthelezi who saw the problem of plastic bag pollution and uses melted plastic in his work.  

We then were ready to create!  I had three different options for projects the kids could create with their recycled plastic; melted plastic art, recycled plastic squishies, and a recycled plastic bag.  They could pick which and how many of each to do as time allowed!  

No surprise here, but recycled squishies were by far the crowd favorite!  

The cutest thing is that the students were making them to give to siblings and friends as well!

Here is a beautiful example of creating a work of art from recycled plastic:

This raisin bag tote turned out great!  It is easy to “sew” ironed plastic bags by using staples and duct tape!