UH OH

polypropylene what?

So reading up on plastic bags bore me. Apparently after half an hour of reading up on the chemical breakdown of plastic bags, I only like to look at bags but not read about them. This might change over time but first impressions are lasting impressions ...

I'm probably going to take the abstract approach, or make a satire on plastic bags. I like the idea of thinking of plastic bags as birds but I don't like the restriction of sticking to a birdwatcher's field guide aesthetic. 

OLDIES BUT GOODIES

Parisian trash holders

Thirsty little bugger on the bench

BAGS VS BIRDS

To begin my research I found a few delightfully quaint bird watching books!

Family tree of birds – soon I'll have a similar diagram for my bag findings.

In one of these books there were explanations of specific bird calls, I'd like to see if I can conjure up a similar concept with bag/wind sounds.

Birds are all over the city, they can be very small or very large, some are colourful and if they aren't on the streets for a streetside nibble, they are usually in trees.

Aside from the streetside nibble, bags are pretty much the same.

The one big difference is that there's no recognition of these bags as anything beyond refuse. However if we are creating all of these bags we may pay greater attention to the consumption and waste of them if we treated them as creatures as opposed to objects.

I personally like the look of bags but always try to avoid using them – my book could go in two directions at this point, an appreciation of bags or an extermination guide, either way I'd like to use the book to draw up comparisons to bags and living, breathing creatures.

REUSABLES

People are scrambling to create bags that will last longer for us but degrade faster in the landfill. It's interesting and a little scary to realize that the plastic bags we use to take out the trash will be on earth far longer than we will. They are slowly and silently taking over our environment as they already blocked drainage systems in Uganda and are leeching out toxins which are slowly entering ecosystems causing infertility and mutation.

Bags are clearly exceeding the carrying capacity of it's planet, such is the case with humans and Earth, and technically would be referred to as overpopulation. Determined through the ratio of population to available sustainable resources, the excess of bags is being addressed more prominently than ever before.

BAGGU is one of many companies based on reducing plastic use. Another alternative, called furoshiki, is a traditional Japanese cloth that can be folded to create a bag. Dating from the Nara period (AD 710 - 794), the use of Furoshiki use dwindled upon the popularity of the plastic bag in the post-war period. But my favorite is (still) the classic canvas bag. 

(I'm a little curious as to why men in North America don't carry canvas bags, I personally like the look but rarely see it)

How to use a furoshiki

Baggu's in use

If teenage boys in Finland can sport the tote, so can we! (photo from HEL Looks)

BAG BEAUTY

One of the most famous plastic bags, a 'generic' whitie in American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999).

The BBC Natural History Unit has made a documentary, Message in the Waves, looking at the environmental challenges facing the people and wildlife in Hawaii & the world.

See & read more at Message in the Waves.

Uganda has banned plastic bags in order to clean up cities and prevent environmental damage but the ban does not seem to be taking the desired effect.

More information at BBC News.

BAGS, BAG RELATIVES & NON-BAGS

BOOK OUTLINE

I'll start taking more pictures once the leaves start to fall again but this year I will be more methodical about it and create 'bag routes' and start recording what makes a good bag watching environment. Along with a guide for watching bags, I'd like to include some tips for prime bag observance.

LITTLE ITALY & THE ANNEX