We live in a world of “Plastic”’ everything around us is plastic. From our phones, to the fabrics that we use, the bottles of water of water we drink , everything we use is plastic. The beauty of plastic is that it makes the product more economical . It can be mass produced and everyone can afford it.

How are plastics made?

Plastics are made from oil, oil is a carbon-rich raw material and plastics are large carbon-containing compounds. They’re large molecules called polymers, which are composed of repeating units of shorter-carbon-containing compounds called monomers. The various types of monomers are combined in a variety of ways and plastics of different types are produced. A very important characteristic of plastic is that it’s inert , it does not react chemically and thus anything can be stored in it , making it an extremely useful product.
But on the flip side, since plastic doesn’t react chemically with other substances, it doesn’t decay and therefore disposing plastic is an environmental problem. Plastic stays in the environment for many decades, which means, recycling it is the best method.
Plastic is recycled industrially but what about the artist at heart or the designer. Have a look below at how plastic when recycled can also become works of art.

This chair is made from plastic shopping bags combining traditional craft techniques and recycled materials. Who’d ever think by looking at it that it’s made from what we dispose… plastic bags!!

Also made by plastic shopping bags, to have a hand made piece of jewelry from something we throw away is ingenuity.

This lamp is made from PET plastic bottles. Talk about taking one mans’ trash and turning it to another man’s treasure.

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau, created a self portrait from plastic bottle caps of different colours. This proves that each and everything we use can be recycled.

No more plastic water bottle trash on the beach. Here the plastic bottles have been sculpted and twisted into 2 giant fish on the beach.

There are so many ways to use plastic and create works of art. We as humans can make products but also should be able to reuse them and not trash them to help with our own environment.