Recycled Art

While at the Vancouver Farmer’s Market this last Saturday they were also having the Recycled Arts Festival in the adjoining Esther Short Park. This of course meant we all had to go check that out too.

The idea of reusing trash and turning it into treasure is by no means a new concept, but it seems that people get cleverer at how they transform those found objects into works of art: Old wine bottles melted to form spoon rests; marbles turned into rings and pendants; chip bags and candy wrappers turned into clutches, handbags and purses. My partner, his mother, sister and I all enjoyed walking from booth to booth and checking out either the merchandise being sold or the idea booths for how-to projects you can do yourself.

Being of crafty peasant stock myself, there were a good number of items showcased I could easily replicate with stuff I currently have on hand. Then again, I could easily improve on some of them too, or at the very least personalize those items to better suit my particular wants and needs. The first thing that comes to mind is repurposing some of my old screen tees I no longer wear because they are unraveling in certain areas or don’t fit well into market bags. And anyone who knows me knows I have a lot of screen tees so that would be a lot of market bags!

But the Recycled Arts Festival also got me thinking about something else. We as a society, at least here in the United States, seem to live disposable lives. Practically everything we use or buy has an expiration date whether it says so or not because instead of manufacturers making products built to last a lifetime, they make products built to last until the newer model comes out so that you’ll have to replace it. I’m sure this last sixty or so years we’ve been consuming disposable products will simply disappear from the history books because there won’t be any lasting impression of how we lived except for the giant heaps of garbage created from this disposable society, most of which will still be there for many, many generations to come.

Perhaps the days of manufacturing goods back to quality status will return when the landfills can no longer contain our bounty we bestow upon them. Perhaps more of our everyday disposable items will become biodegradable or compostable. Then again, perhaps the day we simply outgrow this planet and kill ourselves off due to overpopulation, overconsumption and overall abuse of our resources will happen before we come to our senses. Hopefully we come to our senses before it is too late. Until then, I’m going to rummage through the garage for some trash I can turn into treasure.