Day 44 (Feb 16): .97 lbs
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Day 43 (Feb 14) McLauchlan's Madeira Beach Clean Up
Day 43 (Feb 14): 1.3 lbs
Was working all day, and nearly missed the chance to get down to the beach before sunset. Saw some romantic Valentine’s Day set ups .... was glad I made the effort to head down. My collection included 3 more tabs for Ronald McDonald House collection, along with this other rubbish
Day 42 (Feb 12, part 2): McLauchlans Madeira Beach Clean Up
.61 lbs
It was already dark, and missed the opportunity to walk to the beach with my daughter. So we decided to walk around the shopping center and along Gulf Blvd. And this is what we found.
Day 41 (February 12): McLauchlans Madeira Beach Clean up
Day 41 (Feb 12): 1.61 lbs.
Have been working around the clock and missed the last 2 days. Decided to start the morning with a walk and just get away from the computer! Got 3 can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, a nickel to put in the jar of money that we find on our walks (to donate at the end of the year) and a few more plastic bits for our beach plastic mosaic recycled art project idea
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Day 39 (Feb 8) and Day 40 (Feb 9): McLauchlans Madeira Beach Clean Up
Day 39 (Feb 8): .65 lbs and Day 40 (Feb 9): .11 lbs
Monday, February 8, 2021
HuffPost UK Article by Amy Packham: "These Ridiculously Cute Cards Are Made with Washed-Up Beach Plastic"
This article was part of the inspiration for our collecting/washing/rinsing/sorting/storing some of the plastics we find on our beach walks. For now, we are in the collecting phase. In a few more weeks we hope to create something clever as well.
These Ridiculously Cute Cards Are Made With Washed-Up Beach Plastic
Flora Blathwayt was shocked at the amount of plastic she found on a beach clean – so she put it to good use.
Flora Blathwayt has spent her time on furlough this year making greetings cards – but not just any cards. They’re made using washed up plastic from beaches.
The 33-year-old from Peckham, London, worked for a sustainable condiments company in London called Rubies in the Rubble, but was furloughed when the pandemic hit. And she used the time wisely.
She’d been to a River Thames beach cleaning event a year previously. “I was expecting to find loads of things like plastic bottles and crisp packets, but I was amazed at the amount of microplastics [plastic less than 5mm in length] we picked up,” she says. “Some were super colourful and almost jewel like so I randomly stashed a few pieces in my pockets.”
A week after the beach clean, her sister – who, for a long time, has been living plastic free – was getting married. Blathwayt decided to make her a homemade card using a few of the bits of plastic she’d collected. She had such fun making it, she decided to do more – and the response was really positive.
It wasn’t until lockdown started that she had the time on her hands to turn it into a proper venture. “I found myself beach cleaning more often and collecting more plastic with which to make cards,” she says. “At this point I decided to start making more cards and selling them on Etsy.”
Starting a business has been energising, and also boosted her mentally. “Like a lot of people, I found lockdown quite tough at times, but the beach cleaning really helped me and it felt great doing something positive for the environment (however small). Being outside on the blustery Thames, really helps blow the cobwebs away. I also found making the cards very relaxing and therapeutic.”
So how does it all work? Blathwayt heads down to the beach with some gloves and a few bin bags to see what she can find. She collects the big stuff, which she recycles, but also picks up the tiny microplastics.
Every piece prompts its own design, which she hand-draws on recycled card. “Each one is totally unique and inspired by the plastic I find beach cleaning. I love figuring out how to incorporate the bits of plastic on to the designs.”
“Since lockdown has eased, I’ve started doing beach cleans further afield In places like Whitstable, Porlock and my new favourite place In the world – Hoddevik in Norway,” she says.
Blathwayt wraps the cards in upcycled packaging, instead of a plastic protective sleeve. “My favourite packaging I use at the moment is the jazzy wrapping paper that comes with the ethical loo roll I buy from Who Gives A Crap! The other thing I really love is the brilliant but awful (let’s be honest!) puns I use on the cards.”
Blathwayt acknowledges her cards aren’t going to dent the million tonnes of plastic entering our rivers and oceans every year, but if it helps spread a little love and “get a few people to be a bit more conscious about their plastic consumption” then it’s making progress, she says.
On September 26, she’s even organising her first ever official Washed Up cards beach clean in London for World Rivers Day. Find out more on Instagram.
McLauchlan's Madeira Beach Clean Ups: Goal -- recycled craft projects; Washed Up Cards
When we set out on our resolve to walk beach daily and pick up trash, a related goal was to later use the trash (especially plastics) and make art projects, possibly to raise $$ for conservation efforts (depending on what we could create).
For January, most of what we collected was recycled or put in the trash, but I have been rinsing/sorting/storing some materials that we can use. (Also have separate bin for the in-tact beach toys, and have other ideas for how those can be put to good use)
One of our inspirations for
the craft project are these greeting cards we purchased thru an Etsy shop based in London, made with trash collected along the River Thames -- and packaged with wrappers from Who Gives a Crap toilet paper
I first learned about Flora and the Washed Up Cards in this HuffPost article
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/washed-up-sustainable-cards_uk_
For Washed Up Cards, see https://www.etsy.com/shop/WashedUpCards
For Who Gives a Crap toilet paper, see https://us.whogivesacrap.org/
 |
| rinsing/sorting/storing some of the items that we are collecting for future arts and crafts projects |
 |
| Keeping in tact beach toys in a separate bin; I have other ideas for these for later this summer |
 |
| I was so excited when our order of Washed Up Cards arrived! Aren't they adorable?! |
 |
| I love that they come wrapped in beautiful Who Gives a Crap wrappers -- who are also doing wonderful community service |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Day 58 (Feb 28): 2.56 lbs. Our biggest haul in February. Monthly total: 19.9 lbs (Combined with January 194.01 - that makes 213.92 lbs t... -
Day 57 (Feb 26): .22 lbs. Live music at the Snack Shack. One of the first songs P and I learned to play on the ukelele.
