Written by Andrea Kelly Miles
Proofread by Lance Reed Lawrence
Can you imagine life without plastic? Well, before the year 1855 when Alexander Parkes invented the earliest example of plastic known as Parkesine, the only substances/material that could be moulded were clay and glass; including natural substance such as tree gums and rubber.
Humankind had not widely known about plastic and its multiple uses until the early 1960’s: polyethylene, which today is one of the world's most ubiquitous plastics, had been created in 1898, and then again in 1933. The start of the modern plastics industry began when Dr Leo Bakeland created the world's first synthetic plastic called Bakelite.
Unfortunately, we have succumbed to plastic pollution that contributes to global warming; with the known fact that plastic is not biodegradable. Look around in your home, workplace or current surroundings: how many plastic products do you see? What happens with those products after their purpose expires? What can I do to decrease plastic pollution, because surely the norm is not entirely contributing?
COLLECT AND RECREATE IT!!
According to the WWF, land-based waste pollutes marine life by 80%. In South Africa, only 16% of plastic is recycled. That means 8 million metric tons = 8000000000 KG of plastic are discarded into the ocean where they live for a 100 years. This shows us how often we recycle and re-use biodegradable plastic – it will live on. Plastic can be transformed without being destroyed.
Plastic recycling isn't as effective as it needs to be to make any sort of impact. You can reuse plastic, but only certain kinds: I've seen "cloth" woven from plastic shopping bags, which looked legit. The thing about hard plastic is that you can't easily reprocess them at home: like it will blacken before it melts.
- Use recycled plastic bottles to make an ottoman: Take cardboard, cut in circular shapes and glue the bottles onto both sides of the cardboard and wrap it around with plastic to keep it secure. Then take foam, wrap it around the already wrapped plastic and use material of your choice as the final additions to cover the raw materials. This gives you a cute little ottoman
- Bathroom/bedroom: use recycled boxes you receive through deliveries or purchases in a box, use craft rope and wrap the cardboard box around: this makes your own DIY toilet roll holder or cute little baskets, jewellery box & saves you money and endless hours looking for the perfect jewellery box
- Rustic/Bohemia accent piece: Use coke bottles, paint them keep it simple, white, brown or blue. Add flowers into it and place it onto your floating shelves to create an accent piece for your room that enhances texture and style.
Here are a few visual ideas to help you make the most of your collected plastic products, which you can also help to implement job creations in South Africa using these, and your own unique ideas!
These ideas range from beginner friendly to intermediate and/or expert.
Including one of my very own article: THE AFFECT OF THE ARTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE, which highlights how we can use Art, crafts and media to sustain our Earth in the face of Climate Change.
CONCLUSION
Plastic is here to stay whether we like it or not, but I believe that God gave us natural resources that created plastic for our benefit and not to harm us or our global ecosystem: land, sea and sky. We need to think out of the box to benefit everyone in the process - because plastic is here to stay whether young or old. So let’s have fun with it in the safest and Best ways possible. I mean, with God, nothing is impossible! Simply take care of what He granted us. Earth.
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