Caitlin McCall
- Dec 21, 2021
- 2 min read

Ode to Trash

I love trash.

More specifically, I HATE waste. HATE! Yes, I'm one of those bleeding heart liberals who wants to save the planet. If you're annoyed, then fu - haha.

I'll avoid the soapbox commentary.

My mission today was to hunt for blunt wrap wrappers. There is trash everywhere- and it tells a story about its surroundings. Here are the 3 most common types of trash I find in my neighborhood:

beer cans and tiny alcohol bottles
blunt wraps
fast food

PLAN

I've had the idea to use blunt wrap trash for an art piece for a while. Commence the mission!

First couple mile stroll was an almost fruitless venture. I guess everyone chopped up the trash in their lawn mowers.

Second round: I hopped on the bike. Better success - enough trash to start experimenting!

BUDDIE THE DOG basks in the sun, along with the trash.

CREATE

First, I had to give the wrappers a nice cleaning. Imagine the smell of old cigars sitting in the sun... so pleasant. I ripped/cut the 2 sides apart to try and get more use out of each piece. Let them dry and then it was on to test attachments.

I debated on whether I should use the whole image, or cut them apart. I chose to cut apart sections and colors to maybe achieve some unity in pattern and color. The smell is really hanging on...

Here are the wrappers cut and divided by color.

REVISE

I thought staples would look cool. Tried a couple methods and it just really looks cheap. I know it's trash, but the staples cheapened the trash even more.

Sewing was another thought. It would look really cool, but it would be very difficult and time consuming. On to ol' reliable: hot glue, baby. I glued a few of the letters together, I just didn't like the look of them- still not the sophisticated trash look I'm going for.

I flipped the hot glue test piece over to the silver side- this is definitely a possibility. I cut out a letter from the silver and it looks nice!

PLAN... AGAIN

So, I couldn't figure out how to use the images from the blunt wraps today. A little frustrating, but I'll continue trying some different techniques. The silver is a nice look, but NOT worth the effort. Plus, the silver isn't the unique symbol like a blunt. Conclusion: not a venture I want to immediately pursue.

WHY DID I TELL THIS BORING AND FRUITLESS STORY?...

Part of our mission here at FUHAHA is to highlight the creative process in its ENTIRETY. The failures, the successes, the stupid waste(?) of time washing blunt wrap wrappers. This is the reality of being creative; you've got to just do things. You've got to make a lot of things - a lot of shitty things - to end up with a few really great things.