Demos
Our plastic demonstrations!
One of our main goals at BPP is to inspire the Columbus community to rethink their plastic waste. We think the best way to do this is through hands on demonstrations. However, having our plastic recycling machines running at community events would be unsafe due to hot surfaces, VOCs and a general lack of operation knowledge. Therefore, BPP currently has two interactive plastic demos; our plastic bag fabrication and our plastic rope machine. We use these two processes to engage with younger audiences in a safe and meaningful way. Check them out below!
Ironing plastic bags
Plastic bags are notoriously landfilled and difficult to recycle. While many grocery stores have plastic bag collection programs, there is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding if the plastic bags are actually recycled. We developed this plastic fabric demonstration based on the Precious Plastic guide found below. This isn't a new technique to recycle plastic bags, but it sure is fun!
We created this step-by-step guide for doing this demonstration yourself! Check it out below. There are several other guides created by Precious Plastic groups around the world using this same process. Most notably, a group from Estonia shows us how to sew together a fanny-pack with a zipper using plastic bags. Click here to view their amazing guide.
Here are some pictures of our members trying out this demo themselves and the plastic fabric products we've made!
Plastic rope-making
Another fun demo that we've developed is our plastic rope demo! This demonstration walks you through shredding a plastic soda bottle into thin strands and then weaving those strands together to create plastic rope. We developed this demonstration to be an alternative to the plastic fabric demonstration and because this one does not utilize a hot iron it is much more approachable for younger audiences. This demonstration was inspired by and based on the videos created by the late Grant Thompson on the YouTube channel "The King of Random". Check out their video below!
To get started with this demonstration, you'll need to make a bottle block cutter to cut the soda bottle into thin strands and a rope making machine to intertwine the strands into rope, although if you're dedicated you could weave the strands yourself. Check out our step-by-step guide for this demonstration below!
Checkout us demonstrating this rope making machine at OSU's Time for Change Week and at Columbus's Earth Day 2019!
