Once upon a time...
I found Nicu the cat in the streets of Bucharest 8 years ago. He was tiny, dirty and weak. I took him home, then washed and fed. He was eating like a wolf but, to my surprise, he was not reacting to any sound or call, not even to the click of the food can that usually sends pets into an uncontrollable burst of joy. So I took Nicu to the vet. And that's how I found out that he had a hearing disorder, what made him even more special. Nicu quickly became part of the family and adapted to his new home. This is how in a couple of days the cat food started showing up on our regular shopping list while aluminium cans became part of our household waste.
The colour and flexibility of aluminium sparked my creativity and inspired me one day to play with it. This is how Infinitely Recyclable Lady was born, to become in the nearest future the first piece of #microart, training the muscle of our environmental awareness.
Infinitely Recyclable Lady
Material: aluminium cat food can, glue, stone, dried flower
Size: 0.0348m x 0.0239m x 0.0154m
Did you know that...
Aluminium is one of the most recycled and recyclable materials in use today, recycled over and over again in a true "closed-loop" recycling process. A recycled aluminium beverage can, car door or window frame is often recycled directly back into itself. And this process can happen literally infinitely. To compare, glass and plastic are typically "down-cycled" into products like carpet fibre or landfill liner.*
Take-away
Producing recycled aluminium takes only around 5% of the energy needed to make new aluminium which means reducing carbon emissions and saving money for businesses and end consumers. As a result, nearly 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today.* You can actively contribute to that score, remembering to separate each food or drink aluminium packaging from other materials in your household waste and placing it in the proper recycle trash container.
Related topics to reflect on
Effects of aluminium on stored food
Biodegradable food packaging with aluminium properties
Aluminium when cooking **
Aluminium in antiprespirants **
Aluminium and Alzheimer's disease **
Benefit of aluminium in vaccines **
More #microinspirations
Mr. Out-of-date
Material: aluminium cat food can, cardboard, magazine stripes
Size: 0.0115m x 0.0120m
Happy When Hungry
Material: aluminium cat food can, cardboard, aluminium bottle caps
Size: 0.0120m x 0.0090m
Inspired?
Can't wait to #microart with us? Extract material or an object worth reminding us all about, create a #microstory around it, and send it via email. The stage of our art blog and social media is yours!
Nicu The Wolf
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