The Idea
How much trash do we really produce? I sought to answer this question for myself and being an environmentally conscientious person, was shocked to see just how much accumulated after one day – now imagine one week, one year…and that’s just one person!
The Process
For one day, I saved all my trash (sans what was biodegradable and/or unquestionably unsanitary). Though it was difficult, I made all attempts to carry out my day as normal and not refrain from activities or products in an effort to reduce my waste. Considering this, it was amazing how my focus of the day became about my consumption and trash. I was aware of how many napkins I was using, paper towels, bottles, cans, even tea bags – my focus evolved around using less trash in a vain attempt to reduce my ever-increasing pile.
©KPdesign - 2011
The Trash
• 1 old cardboard portfolio
• 2 soda cans
• 1 plastic water bottle
• 3 paper towels from café restroom
• 1 café napkin
• 1 ACE knee brace box
• 1 plastic Safeway bag
• 2 gum wrappers
• 1 tea package and bag
• saran wrap from zucchini bread
• 1 Subway napkin
• 1 Subway sandwich paper wrap
• 2 pieces of junk mail
• 2 paper towels from home
• 1 ziplock bag
• 1 photo envelope from Walgreens
• 1 Walgreens receipt
• 1 Tostitos chip bag
• Paper scraps/cuttings found in portfolio
The Art
To visually display the impact that one person’s trash accumulation has in one day, I turned ‘trash’ in to art, giving an entire new dimension and meaning to ‘recycled art’. I carefully constructed and glued each piece of trash to a large recycled cardboard portfolio and fashioned a protective frame made of recycled plexiglass, wood, and screws.
Final Piece - ©KPdesign
The Message
Though I consider myself very environmentally aware and participate in recycling and reusing goods, I still produce a large amount of trash in a span of 24-hours. It was both startling and illuminating. I encourage everyone to monitor a day of their own trash - this little insight may just prompt people to use less and think more. Even if it’s just one less napkin that we use at lunch or dinner – added up, all those ‘ones’ can make a huge difference.
~ KP
Excellent…wouldn’t this be a great project for schools..
It really would be! I’m so glad that ‘recycle arts & crafts’ are becoming more and more popular these days!
While we’re on the recycle theme:
a good friend brought this site to my attention – it’s brilliant!
http://www.terracycle.net/en-US/
Also, another cool artsy recycle-driven site:
http://www.recyclart.org/
Re-use it people!!!
I’m really digging your creativity here
– very nice
Thank you so much! It was a really fun and illuminating process – I encourage you to try it sometime – seriously, I had no idea how much trash I produce – ah!