This art installation was a great interactive and hands on program that really forced me to re-evaluate how petrochemical plastic plays a huge role in my life. It was amazing to see how many ways plastic is used in our lives, so many that we often overlook it. Also, I was very interested in learning just how much natural gas is used to make plastic products. It seems like such a waste that a highly limited natural resource is used so freely and heavily on a product with an extremely short life span and detrimental effect on the health of the planet and its inhabitants. Yet our reliance on plastic is so heavy that we don’t even begin to see this as a problem.

I also really liked the idea of “adoption” of the plastic products we use. It was a very interesting way to phrase our use of plastic products. It paints an idea of ownership and responsibility- that we ought to be responsible for the plastic products we use, their effect on us and the environment, and where they go after we’re done with them. The act of labeling the items we brought in, added a sense of true ownership and responsibility for these items. We were then even asked to really “get to know” these items, further familiarizing ourselves with them, we begin to see their impact on the environment and our bodies. I particularly struggled with identifying my item, and then had to scroll through the many types of petrochemicals, each with their own set of problems.

It is an uphill battle trying to raise awareness about the dangers of being so reliant on petrochemicals when you can probably grab at least ten things made of plastic within arms reach right now. I felt awful when Marina Zurkow was talking about the impact and environmental cost of plastic while we all chomped away on our food with plastic forks, on plastic plates, sipping from plastic cups. I really appreciate all of her work and her desire to raise awareness about this issue. Since grade school we were all taught to recycle, but this was probably the first time I really got information on why we recycle, and how bad plastic really is for everyone. This art exhibit was great and I really loved working with the artists.