Another great day in 406 Pelissier. We got lots of brainstorming done and continued our planning and work with plastic bag recycling projects.

It’s been a fantastic three days, and being able to work in such a concentrated way in just one week has been really helpful in pushing forward on some new ideas. We came up with a good plan for some “must do” things over the next few months, more details soon!

The work space with Leesa’s balloons. We decided to drag out another stage from the back to get some more workspace.

After dragging out the stage, which was surprisingly heavy, Steven started going through his large garbage bag full of other plastic bags.

There was a large variety of bags with a good choice of colours.

Once Michelle arrived at the space, we started to unload the bags and organize them.

There were a lot of bags.

Michelle flattened out the bags.

Steven started cutting the handles off.

Working with a square or rectangle is easier for making sheets of fused plastic to reshape.

Steven cuts many, many LCBO bags.

We started to brainstorm other ways to attach planters to surfaces, including braiding some of the plastic bag scraps. Although Steven started the braiding, Michelle stepped in and finished it.

Steven’s jaw was sore.

The braid might work, but we’ll have to do more testing. Considering the number of planters we’re hoping to make, it might not be the most time-effective way to work with the material.

I had an agenda of ideas we wanted to go through, so we started brainstorming. We came up with ideas for other projects, but also more immediate plans for our new home (details soonish).

Meanwhile, Steven continued working on the banner.

The stage with the plastic bag processing zone.

Steven showed Cristina how to size the fused plastic bags for planters.

There was a specific way to fold the plastic bags that Steven had worked out to best use a single plastic bag.

Michelle started fusing plastic bags for sheets.

This was Steven’s second iron.

Michelle also folded up some graph paper to use as an insert to size the planters.

Michelle folded the paper to a small size to allow the sides of the bags to be fused together, making the edging stronger.

The banner kept growing.

Steven also worked on another size of planter to accommodate larger plants.

Michelle pressing the plastic bags with her iron.

Steven then tested the planter for drainage.

There was lots of drainage.

I had tested one of the initial planters Steven made using a single bag, putting in seeds and soil.

I added water.

The planter was heavy, probably too heavy for the magnet, but the planter was probably bigger than it needed to be.

This style of planter also needs more drainage.

Steven and Michelle kept working on the planters, but with a variety of sizes.

The LCBO bags worked very well, given the weight of the plastic, and the design on them is more interesting than normal grocery bags.

Steven worked to layer bags for the banner, mixing up the colours.

Eventually, we’ll lay a garbage bag over top of this with the letters cut out, so the colours below will show.

Cristina gave another tour to some friends who stopped by, giving us yet another reason to really be enjoying the space.

Steven cutting bags.

The resized planter. After figuring that the original size that we were making the planters from single bags was likely too big and in the end too heavy for magnets, we settled on a planter almost half the size, but ideal for things that will inevitably require less soil.

The banner tumbling over the table.

Michelle suited up to attempt to ride home in between rain showers. I had asked her to read a draft of a proposal, which in turn likely had her riding most of her way home in the rain—sorry!!!

The banner thus far.

The work space—surely a sign of a productive week. We’re sorting out schedules right now to see when we might be able to get back down there to continue working. Again, it was an amazing week, such a great way to work and collaborate, being able to leave things out and having the leisure of almost an entire day to spend the time figuring things out.

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