Think about everything you've brought home in a plastic bag. From clothing to food to, well, just about anything, you've probably stashed something in a plastic bag more than a few times.
You may carry a reusable bag for groceries, or recycle your plastic bags when you can, but sadly, a lot of those plastic bags end up in the trash or worse — simply out on the ground.
And not only does that put a strain on the materials needed to make new bags, but it also means that the bags end up in natural areas and in the water, where they pose a threat to wildlife. Marine life is especially susceptible.
This was what artist Nazrin Musayeva kept thinking about when she saw the amount of plastic bags that people in her hometown used when shopping. She decided to create a piece of art reminding people that just because a bag is thrown out doesn't mean it goes away.
Conserving and reusing materials is incredibly important for the health of the Earth at large, and while technological advances like this concept paper recycling and paper making machine might revolutionize how we work, art pieces like Musayeva's serve to make more people aware of how resources can be exploited, and also how they can be conserved.
Take a look at what she created, and it will make you rethink not only plastic bags, but also how you can make art!
[H/T: BoredPanda]
Musayeva is a street and mixed media artist who uses a variety of materials in her work. She especially likes to use trash in her art, for both artistic and environmentalist reasons.
"I look at waste differently," she says. "After all, even from the used material, it is possible to create a work of art, thereby [giving it a] second life."
To this end, she decided to make a statement about plastic bags and their impact on the environment.
Watching the way people went through bag after bag inspired her to create this piece in the hopes of reminding people that the bags, if not recycled or properly disposed of, can have harmful effects on the environment.
"We buy clothes and products which most often are put into polyethylene bags [that] are also used for garbage," Nazrin explains. "And thus without thinking, we harm the nature, littering the soil and water. After all, these plastic bags don’t decay," she adds.
For her piece, she chose to create an octopus because some of the animals most put in danger from plastic bags are sea creatures.
"I care about this problem deeply as I love animals very much and strongly worry that some of them are on the verge of disappearance," Nazrin says.
She hopes that her art will help people remember that their activities really do have an impact on the Earth at large, and she also hopes to show that even a humble plastic bag can, with a little planning, be used to create beautiful art.
So this isn't just an art piece with an environmental message, but an actual piece of recycling itself!
The octopus piece isn't the first one she's done using plastic bags as a medium before, either. She usually combines the bags with paint and other materials to create the full image.
The projects are large in scale, and require a lot of plastic bags.
Many people like to use recycled materials in their artwork; it's cheap, and it doesn't require the use of new products. And it also gives new life to what would otherwise be trashed.
With this piece, Musayeva hopes to make people more aware of the choices they make — even when just running to the store to pick something up — can have much larger repercussions throughout the world.
You can see more of Musayeva's work on her website and Facebook page, and be sure to SHARE her clever, meaningful work with anyone who loves the environment.
