Megan Lloyd

Counterproductive Canvas: A Visual Exploration of the Renewable Bag

The goal of my thesis project is to increase awareness about the falsities of the sustainability of reusable bags, specifically looking at canvas bags. I aim to do this by using upcycled bags that I have collected, ranging from canvas to polypropylene material, and printing a startling informational design on them. The design I have chosen is a print of the words. “I am not environmentally *friendly,” with the accompanying footnote “*unless you use me 149 times.” This design has come from my research on the comparative impacts of canvas, polypropylene, paper, and plastic bags. I have found that canvas and other reusable bag types are not as sustainable as they are perceived, unless they are reused a large amount of times. I hope to give the bags I have made to students in the Philadelphia area for their own use, and to continue the message of using what you have, as many times as you can, before falling into falsely sustainable practices.

Sector C

Advisors: Sharka Hyland (FNAR), Kiera Towell (ENGR)