Remember that resolution to stop eating junk food, or scaling back on late night treats, or promising to recycle more? Nearly ten years ago, Bryant Holsenbeck made a commitment to giving up single-use plastic for an entire year.
This goal cost her many of her usual comforts and left her looking for new eco-friendly ways to exist in the world. During her one year plastic fast, Holsenbeck wrote a blog and shared her story with anyone who logged on: from complaints about not being able to eat cookies or crackers because of their plastic packaging, to excitement over buying in bulk.
As a longtime artist, she even incorporated this temporary way of life into her art. She began as a basketmaker, but for the past decade she has been collecting plastic waste in the form of plastic bags, bottle caps, and other 鈥渢rash鈥� to create art. Holsenbeck shares her journey in the book, 鈥淭he Last Straw: A Continuing Quest for Life Without Disposable Plastic鈥� (RCWMS Press/2018).
She joins host Franks Stasio to share her personal evolution and explain how the plastic-free movement is finally catching on. Holsenbeck will host a reading at in Chapel Hill on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. will host a screening of the documentary 鈥淪traws鈥� followed by a reading and reception with Holsenbeck on Tuesday, March 26 as part of 鈥淪kip The Straw鈥� month. Her next exhibit opens May 18 at the .
