Best Use of Plastic Bags
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.21.08
What better use of plastic bags than knitting them into something useful? Others have done it, but Kate Ward's are particularly stylish and appealing. She is an Australian, working in London, and selling her plastic change purses and handbags at weekend markets. Since she has a full-time job it's tricky to find her, but well worth the effort. Ward says that she "quite likes the idea of taking an item which is usually discarded and turning it into something treasured". The handbags contain 20 recycled plastic bags and the provenance for each one is listed: Superdrug pink, drycleaners white, ChinaTown Red and Sainsbury’s Orange. One little beauty was made of all blue Marks & Spencer bags and looked like the sea. She does most of her work whilst travelling on the London Underground and reckons that she recycled 500 bags in just six months.
Her work is making a big impact environmentally and artistically. A large poster is part of the "Artbelow" project, where different artists can display a sample of their work on the wall of a Tube station for two weeks. Hers is a photo of a young woman in a hurry carrying one of the recycled bags. Members of the public can buy a copy of the work if they wish. :: Kate Ward
I love love this. The photo especially. I've seen lots of people make these, and these are the most sophisticated. Thanks for posting this!
Pound for pound, luxury items are some of the highest-impact from an environmental standpoint. Any way to take low value trash and convert it into a high-value luxury item is both financially and ecologically genius!
Kent
www.ecounit.com
Is her name Karen or Kate? The URL is for Kate Ward.
if you know knit then you can make one yourself or make them for others and give as gifts. I wish I had the patience to learn to knit or I would make one.
Zig