Upcycling: Plastic Straws

Program Type:

Arts, Culture, & Literature

Age Group:

Adult
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Event Details

Don't just recycle; upcycle!

 

From used K-cups, wine corks, and books to plastic bottles, toilet paper rolls, and so much more, let's transform your trash into treasure! Together, let's discover new, fun and creative ways to reuse everyday items. 

Last month we kicked off Earth day with upcycling plastic bags and made some Plarn! If you missed last month's session, fret not; you can catch it here! This week we will be tackling one of the trickiest things to recycle, plastic straw. 

All over America, plastic straws are slowly becoming more and more outdated in favor of easier to recycle items, such as paper or reusable straws. An estimated 500 million plastic straws are used every day in America, and most of those end up in our oceans, polluting the water and killing marine life. As one of the more complex (like plastic bags) items to recycle, plastic straws largely end up in our oceans as pollution, killing our marine life and bird friends daily. 

Why are they so hard to recycle? Most plastic straws are too lightweight to make it through the mechanical recycling sorter. They drop through sorting screens and mix with other materials and are too small to separate, contaminating recycling loads or get disposed of as garbage.

How can you make a difference? Aside from switching to a more sustainable source, sometimes you can't help it if you get a beverage with a plastic straw. What you can do is Upcycle it and turn it into something you can use in your home. We will have different crafts on how to reuse your (clean) straws. 

Supplies:

  • Clean plastic staws, bendy ones are fine too
  • scissors 
  • sting/yarn/plarn
  • paint (I'll be using metallic spray paint)
  • glue  

 

This program is offered online only. Zoom information will be sent out to registrants 30min before the start of the program. You must register with a valid email to attend. 

 

For more information on where you can recycle your plastic and plastic bags, check out