We are organizing a visual critical mass in the form of the International Plastic Quilt Project. WHY? Together we can make a big statement, both by voting with our dollars and showing how a growing number of our youth are becoming waste-savvy and reducing their Plastic Footprint.
Please fill out our interest form if you are, well, interested, in being involved as a school/site for this project in 2012! We will keep you informed about events as they develop! Do you want to volunteer with this project? We can match you to a site. Please fill out this volunteer form as soon as you can!
General Spring 2012 Timeline:
Jan-Apr 2012— Explore use of plastic to create art
Apr-Jun 2012— The Internat’l Plastic Quilt exhibits in many locations internationally!
May-Jun 2012— Culminating large-scale exhibit of hundreds of IPQP squares, locations include the Gallery at Port City and others TBA
Volunteer Materials
Gyre Quilt Square Template w/ Instructions (PDF)
8-9 Course Teaching Module Starter (PDF) NOTE: This needs the Kit below)
Module Resources (10 MB ZIP folder–goes with Teaching Module above). Please email cheryl[at]createplenty.org if you wish to be officially included in the May 2012 exhibit in Portland, Oregon. You will need to fill out and return the Volunteer Memorandum included in this folder. Thanks!
Informational online videos:
Grades k-3: Loop Scoops (2 mins. each)
Grades 4-6: Bag It (click on “trailer” 3 mins.)
Grades 7 +: Synthetic Sea (10 mins.), Story of Stuff (20 mins.)
Single-use Plastic Craft Videos:
Plarn (plastic yarn made from bread and shopping bags)
International Plastic Quilt Project Gallery
Contest!
2012 Quilt Square Design Contest
All student squares will be juried at the culminating exhibit in June and several prizes will be awarded for Best Gyre (using the pattern above) and Best New Pattern Design (a pattern that we can share on this site). Earn extra points if you use the words “reduce” and/or “reuse”. Prizes will help our winners to reduce their Plastic Footprint!
2012 Plastic-Free Brigade Contest
The activities in the section below engage the students in communicating with those “in charge” to choose a plastic-free alternative. If your group does one of those activities, keep track of the progress of the activity. Did you get a response to your letter? Did a business owner meet with you to discuss how to eliminate plastic lids from his/her coffee house? Wherever you left off at the end of the school year, show us! Include how your group came to the decision to take a certain action, a copy of the letters you wrote and received, and what steps you might take as a group if you were given $1,000,000 to help solve the problem. This can be a 1-page written report. Any activities below marked with an * in our volunteer kit can also be entered into this contest and may be presented at our culminating exhibit.
Good Readin’
Elizabeth Royte, Garbageland: On the Secret Trail of Trash and Bottlemania
Heather Rogers, Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Trash
Gay Hawkins, The Ethics of Waste
View International Plastic Quilt Project Map in a larger map
