Lockdown has taught me that is can be more difficult than I thought to cut plastic out of your life or even to reduce the amount I use to a minimal amount. Before I start telling you how I've been dealing with it, this definitely is not a solution... but it is a temporary measure that can be used on quite a significant level for the time being and later can be used to reduce other peoples waste.
The whole lockdown situation has made me make changes that I don't like... not just don't like, that I absolutely detest. With money being tight due to workshops, exhibitions etc being cancelled I have had to buy cheaper food, which STILL in this day and age seems to mean more plastic packaging! When is this going to change? Not buying locally and relying on supermarket deliveries and internet buys is really frustrating but hopefully not for much longer.
Plastic bags haven't been present in our home for such a long time that I felt I had to use the ones I was collecting, so I've been experimenting with them. I've been ironing with them, baking them, colouring them and sewing with them.
The results have been surprisingly good and I like that I'm changing something that is so disposable into something that will last. Although I haven't forgotten that at sometime in the distant future whatever I create will end up in the eco-system still. Hence this is not a sustainable way to work but as a temporary measure it is the a lesser evil and if I can match it to a subject matter that tells a story about plastic waste then at least I will be using it to highlight an important topic.
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