Otago Polytechnic School of Art third-year textile student
Bridie-Rose O'Leary (22) wraps herself in her art yesterday
to display the sleeping bag and jacket she made from
disposable nappies. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Life in a disposable world is not all it is made out to
be, according to art student Bridie-Rose O'Leary.
The third-year Otago Polytechnic student wants to raise
awareness of the waste in modern lives by turning disposable
nappies into garments.
She has stockpiled thousands of new disposable nappies to
create hundreds of items, such as jackets, pants, sleeping
bags and duvets - "everything you would normally wash".
The pieces will be displayed in a mock shop during the
end-of-year School of Art Site exhibition, to raise awareness
of the waste created by disposable products.
Manufacturers argued disposables were as sustainable as
reusable nappies when the water used to wash them was taken
into account, she said.
However, during her work as an au pair in Chicago, she saw
how many nappies were used daily and thrown away.
As one nappy took between 75 and 500 years to break down in
landfill, and one baby would use about 6000 nappies, she had
been inspired to change the public's belief that they were
acceptable.
In a bid to publicise her message, Miss O'Leary sent a
jacket, made with about 20 nappies, to United States' talk
show host Ellen DeGeneres in the hope it would feature on her
television show.
After the exhibition, Miss O'Leary plans to give the nappies
to awareness groups in the hope they will use them to promote
the use of reusable cloth nappies.
- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
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