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 “trash” to create art. Holsenbeck shares her journey in the book, “The Last Straw: A Continuing Quest for Life Without Disposable Plastic” (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 Flyleaf books in Chapel Hill on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough will host a screening of the documentary “Straws” followed by a reading and reception with Holsenbeck on Tuesday, March 26 as part of “Skip The Straw” month. Her next exhibit opens May 18 at the Craven Allen Gallery in Durham.
