Why Plastic Bottle Sculptures?
Please enjoy these lovely early spring wildflowers because I can’t bear to have photo of a plastic bottle sculpture on my blog.
As more of us become aware that plastics are bad for the environment and our bodies, we want to share this understanding with our students. Searching to find creative ways to talk about plastics, one will inevitably come across sculptures that incorporate plastic water bottles.
I have four reasons why these projects are a NO for me.
These projects increase exposure to potentially harmful substances (ie germs and phthalates)
So, germs - I don’t have to explain. We’ve all been thinking about germs quite a lot since March of 2020.
But plastics are also harmful. The New York Times recently published an article, “The Types of Plastics that Families Should Avoid.” https://www.nytimes.com/article/plastics-to-avoid.html?referringSource=articleShare
Check out the article and protect your students’ health by avoiding plastic bottles.
2. These projects typically do not reduce plastic consumption.
Often art classes can’t collect enough plastic bottles so they end up purchasing more to complete these projects. The construction of the projects often includes hot glue or additional plastic to attach the bottles.
An example: I visited a summer camp that had decided to make a Seahorse out of plastic bottles. They changed from having water in paper cups to consuming cases of plastic bottles every week. They purchased about 1000 plastic zip ties to construct the seahorse, increasing their consumption and the childrens’ exposure to plastic.
And, it was a boring project - for both the children required to create it and the viewers required to look at it.
3. The sculptures do not last and don’t look great.
At least you get to eat a Cake Fail!
Plastic bottle art projects typically don’t look like they do on Pinterest. Imagine having an enormous Plastic Bottle Fail hanging in your classroom.
Once the plastic begins to break down, you’ll be counting the days until you can throw it away. (Because it won’t be recyclable.)
4. Assigning these projects does not encourage self-expression.
I’m not a fan of prescriptive art projects. I’ve written about that here: https://enidryce.com/selsteam/make-whatever-youd-like
In addition, I don’t think these projects meet the established VAPA outcomes required in school curricula in a meaningful way.
Alternatives:
One option to engage with plastic while remediating litter:
Try a Literati Project. https://enidryce.com/selsteam/literati
Or
Create a Game of Life for recycling in your community: https://enidryce.com/selsteam/create-a-game-of-life
Other ideas are available on our team’s blog: https://enidryce.com/selsteam
