Art from Waste Plastic

October 2024

I adore the environment of the Chesapeake Bay estuary and feel so lucky to have grown up surrounded by such beauty. I've always enjoyed picking up trash on my walks with my dog, Luna. It's a nice feeling knowing you're keeping some plastic out of the watershed. When I'd take Luna to the community beach along the Chester River, I started noticing all of the tiny colorful bits of plastic that wash ashore daily. Instead of just picking it up and throwing it away, I thought I could make mosaics out of it. It proved to be an easy, inexpensive and rewarding art project. Finding brightly colored pieces of plastic that I can turn into art makes beach clean-ups more fun!

At the same time I started making my "trashy beach art," I was an intern at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center. The intern coordinator, Becky Lomax, allowed me to create an environmental education program. I taught about the expansive Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how everything on the ground eventually flows into the bay and its tributaries. I used (sanitized) trash from my personal beach clean-ups to create a sensory-friendly scavenger hunt for kids. Through this scavenger hunt, I hope to inspire families to find the fun in picking up trash and encourage them to reduce their plastic use.

Lily, Former Team Member at PFQAC