Remade in China

Poster I created for my Popcorn Session

Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uf11Hldwz5r7sXeNf5PbNIQeThEoGPqSfpuqAU0EACM/edit?usp=sharing

On 11/8/19, I hosted a popcorn session closely related to the topics I was exploring in Remade in China. During this informal workshop, I taught my method of cutting and braiding plastic bags. In the casual and fun spirit of Popcorn Sessions, I felt that making friendship bracelets was a great way to teach some simple cutting and weaving skills, but also have a chat about the impact of plastic and create awareness.

About 10 people came to the session, and I tried to keep the instructions simple so that everyone could follow along. The most important thing that I wanted people to leave the session with was not necessarily a bracelet, but a new thought process. 1. Plastic can be a valuable resource, 2. Upcycling is easy to do, 3. Spread the word. 

I made a simple presentation to go along with my demonstration, and I am glad that only a few people came since it is easier to manage a small group when teaching hands-on activities. Unfortunately, I don’t have much photographic documentation of the event or everyone’s works in progress or finished products, but Marcela is wearing one of the braided bracelets I made so you can ask her or myself about the event. 🙂

Learn from China

A Chinese craft that I have always been interested in is Chinese knots. They began as a Chinese folk art in the Tang and Song dynasty, and can be seen everywhere as decorations. Especially around Chinese New Year, these Chinese knot decorations are hung up on walls and doors of homes and shops. Chinese knots are usually red, which is a lucky color in Chinese tradition. Chinese knots are similar to lanyards and are usually made from one long string, with intricate weaving and knotting. From my midterm research and experimentation, I was able to make a lanyard-like rope using braided plastic bags. I think that the traditional string used in Chinese knotting could definitely be replaced by the plastic rope, especially red-colored plastic ropes.

 

Find References

Research about plastic solutions and post it on your journal.
Everyone has to find at least three interesting solutions that already exist and their impact on a sustainable world. Evaluate them, using the information from the lectures and readings. Choose one between “Design Is The Problem” and “Bio-Thinking” as an evaluation framework or tool for assessing the sustainability of your these solutions

A lot of new daily-use products exist on the market nowadays to promote sustainability and allow consumers to make more eco-friendly decisions. However, many of these products that are supposedly solutions to reduce plastic waste could actually be contributing to the problem. Some examples of trendy, sustainable products are reusable metal straws, reusable aluminum water bottles, bamboo toothbrushes, and wax wraps.

1 – Metal Straws

Reusable metal straws have become incredibly popular after international backlash about plastic drinking straws harming ocean life. The concept seems harmless, if everyone reused one straw, there would not be a need for plastic straws and therefore there would be no disposal necessary. However, there are several hitches in this supposedly ethical product. Firstly, the nickel required to make these metal straws is mined in Palawan and relies on underpaid work in dangerous conditions. Secondly, according to this study, the energy used to produce a single metal straw is equivalent to the energy used to produce 90 plastic straws. Under the framework put forth by “Bio-Thinking”, reusable metal straws do not meet the standards of a truly sustainable product because it is not cyclic in production, and is not socially ethical.

2 – Bamboo Toothbrushes

Bamboo toothbrushes are another popular “sustainable” product that claims to aid the reduction of plastic waste from toothbrushes. Instead of having the handle made from plastic, they are created from bamboo which is a natural and non-toxic material. However, the issue with toothbrushes is that the bristles are still mostly made from polyester or other forms of plastic. This article details a few experiments done on various bamboo toothbrushes to test for plastics. Some brands claim that their bristles are made of biodegradable or BPA free plastic, but there is very little transparency because production is mostly outsourced to Asian countries, which often – once again – rely on underpaid labor in unsafe conditions. Under the framework put forth by “Bio-Thinking”, bamboo toothbrushes also do not meet the standards of a truly sustainable product because it is only partially cyclic in production, and is not socially ethical.

3 – Wax Wrap

Wax wraps are a kitchen product meant to replace plastic cling wrap. Plastic wrap is basically impossible to recycle because of its sticky properties, and it is a huge pollutant. In response, many people have turned to reusable wax wraps, which are sheets of fabric coated in wax. One large advantage of wax wraps are that they can be made at home and do not necessarily have to be purchased. Beeswax is also a natural material and can be sourced ethically from local beekeepers. The only possible issue is the fabric. As we have learned, the textile industry is one of the most ecologically harmful industries as it requires immense amounts of energy and natural resources to produce, while also producing excessive amounts of waste. In the spirit of DIY, people can create these wax wraps from old clothes or other textiles that would otherwise go to waste. In the “Bio-Thinking” framework, wax wraps are perhaps a better sustainable product because of the DIY potential. If everyone were to create them in their own homes, the social, efficiency, and energy aspects of sustainability would not be an issue. The products are also mostly cyclic to produce, save for the fabric. Ideally, these wax wraps can be reused as long as there is a continuous supply of beeswax.

While the ideology of these “sustainable” producs are commendable, the main issue that they are trying to reduce waste while using more resources. Any new product requires new resources, and oftentimes the process of creating the object – rather than the disposal – is more harmful and wasteful.

My midterm project is a bondage harness made from plastic waste. I wanted conceptual reversal on how plastic chokes our ecosystems. From bubble wrap to straws, these single-use plastic items often end up in landfills or oceans. This wearable not only gives these items a new life, but also critiques the production and disposal of single-use plastics.

Inspiration

My inspiration for creating a wearable harness actually came from a meme.

Harnesses are a wearable statement about power and control. I appreciate how harnesses have appeared in mainstream fashion, and can still make a statement when one wears one. Bondagewear designer, Yeha Leung (@creepyyeha), heavily inspired my design and aesthetic. Her attention to detail when making custom sized harnesses is the same level of craftsmanship I wanted to emulate in my work. Below are some examples of her designs.

There are a variety of materials used in her harnesses, but I drew inspiration mostly her Empress choker and harness for the design and materials. Below is a sketch of my design.

Process

After I sketched out my design, I began experimenting with materials. The materials that I ended up using were all plastic bags, bubble wrap, scrap wire, plastic bottles, and plastic straws. The plastic bag that I used for my project was silvery, which I chose because of how similar it looked to metal. I cut it into thin strips and braided them together, which created a durable and polished looking rope.

I decided to use the rope for the hanging adornments on the harness, but the main material to be used in place of the leather straps was the bubble wrap. I found that ironing bubble wrap together created a snakeskin-like pattern, and it was also a fairly uniform and commonly thrown out material. I ironed four layers of bubble wrap so that it was durable, but I had to experiment with different amounts of layers to achieve the most flexible yet strong plastic bubble wrap strip. The most effective way to create the strips was to fold the bubble wrap over itself twice to create 4 layers and iron it at 100 degrees Celsius until it was fully flattened.

 

I created the o-rings next, using an incredibly tedious method that produced great results. I found that ironing small strips cut from a plastic bottle would cause them to curl up and harden. I originally wanted to use the leftover rings from plastic bottles, but they all varied in size and thickness which would have broken the cohesiveness of my design. I had to make a lot of these rings, since many of them did not curl properly. I chose the most viable ones and hot glued them closed. I then cut some plastic strips from the bag that I also used for the rope and wrapped each plastic ring to make it look like it was metal. I used the iron at 100 degrees Celsius to heat press the plastic bag to the ring from both sides, and made seven complete o-rings to use in the harness.

I paid attention to the detail in Yeha Leung’s harnesses, so I wanted to include small rivets in my harness. I began creating them by cutting up thin plastic straws into 3 mm thick pieces and ironing to be flat like a button. Then, I wrapped them in scraps of the same silvery plastic bag to unify the “metal” elements. I ironed the plastic bag scraps to the plastic buttons, creating the rivets.

With all of the fundamental materials created, I began to assemble the harness. I measured the bubble wrap strips to fit my own body, and made sure to include additional length to loop around the o-rings. I sewed the strips to themselves, looping them around the 0-ring and sewing on rivets for decoration. Some of the rivets function as buttons that I can use to put on or take off the harness. For the strips that were opening points, I cut a small slit where the rivets would be sewn on and sewed the rivet on the opposite side to use as a button.

I tied the plastic rope on next, and created small crystal-like charms to attach to the ropes. For these ornaments, I cut a plastic bubble tea straw diagonally and poked holes through the pieces to attach wire jump rings to. I the jump rings by stripping and tightly coiling scrap wire using needle-nose pliers.

The finished harness is a both a beautiful fashion accessory as well as a powerful statement about single use plastics and plastic pollution.

My experimentation with plastic materials has shown me new ways to create raw materials for fashion and jewelry design. Creating my harness involved many processes, such as braiding plastic, ironing bubble wrap, cutting and ironing straws. I believe that plastics can be aesthetically pleasing when upcycled, and through upcycling, many of these single use plastic items were given a new life and saved from polluting our ecosystem.

Ben, Cassie, and Sofia did the field research for where the trash in the school went, and Kenneth and I created the map visualization.

They first looked at places around the school to discard waste and what kind of waste was collected from each floor.

Cafe: recyclable waste, residual waste, household food waste

Hallways: recyclable waste, residual waste, household food waste

Cafeteria: recyclable waste, “paper” (napkins), food waste

They spoke to an ayi who was collecting trash from the classroom, who said she takes all the waste to B2. They then went to B2 (parking garage) and walked around until the found the waste area, which was pretty neatly organized.

The trash in B2 was separated by kitchen waste, other waste, harmful waste, recyclable waste, and residual waste.

Later, they asked the man working there where the trash goes, and found out that a trash truck comes everyday 1-3pm, except for Sunday.

Kenneth and I put all this information into a drawing of NYU Shanghai with a clearly labeled key.

 

Prior to the presentation that Richard Brubaker, founder and managing director of Collective Responsibility in Shanghai, I felt incredibly apprehensive about my personal sustainability practices as well as the city’s changing policy regarding recycling. However, after he broke down the areas in which recycling worked and didn’t, I felt like my experience with the new recycling laws was validated. This past week, as I went to the trash/recycling bin with four categories, I was yelled at by an ayi for not properly sorting my food trash from my recyclables, and was even told “You probably don’t properly recycle in whichever country you come from” which was incredibly demoralizing. This made me hyper-aware of the actual strain of laws that promote sustainability. I enjoyed the talk thoroughly, because it wasn’t just a call to action, but an assessment of the informal recycling practices in place in Shanghai already. The takeaway from both the talk and this week’s readings is that failure to be sustainable isn’t a failure on the part of the individual, industry or government, but is a collective responsibility.

Chapter 1 of “Sustainability” by Kent E. Portney clearly breaks down the different schools or foundations of sustainability practices, which makes it much easier to understand the various ideologies that contribute to overall sustainability. The six foundations are as follows: ecological/carrying capacity, resource/environment, biosphere, critique of technology, no growth/slow growth, and ecodevelopment. I think that certain areas deserve more attention or action, especially critique of technology and ecodevelopment. Most of society has been doing their best at reducing their carbon footprint, but government and industry has to catch up and start changing their business models and passing regulations that align with a more ecological standpoint.

Chapter 3 of “Accumulation: The Material Politics of Plastic” – Made to be wasted: PET and topologies of disposability by Gay Hawkins – is a more in-depth look at the factors that contribute to PET pollution, which encompass history, social functions, and market. Hawkins emphasizes the fact that PET (namely PET bottles) were not always these single use, haphazardly disposable objects. As she says, “it is an instrument for capital accumulation” and was only mass produced and marketed to be used only once so that consumers would buy more frequently. The plastic bottle has a fairly ironic history of replacing more recyclable materials such as paper or glass. The irony lies in the fact that what was once a selling point for PET is now its greatest problem – durability and permanence. Once a wondrous invention, PET has become a huge environmental threat.

I conducted some of my own research on plastic pollution, and I learned about the different ways that plastic harms organic life, especially in the ocean. The size of the plastic object has an effect on the type of harm – macroplastics lead to physical entrapment (six-pack rings), while microplastics lead to ingestion (microbeads), and on a molecular level, toxic chemicals are released from plastics (pthalates). The last and least visible harm is perhaps the most insidious because of how little we are aware of the chemical effects that plastic has on both our ecosystem and our bodies. There are already campaigns or laws that ban macro- and micro- plastics (plastic bag ban, cosmetic microbead ban), but barely any regulations that protect us from pthalates or other chemicals that disrupt our endocrine and reproductive systems. The BPA scare is the only thing that people think of when they consider the chemical harms of plastic, but as Jeb Berrier made clear in “Bag It”, almost all of the products we use contain pthalates and could be hugely detrimental to our health. It’s incredibly daunting to think about plastic pollution let alone sustainablity as a whole, but categorizing them into different areas of thought and practice makes it an easier task.