This Retired Woman in Russia Decorated Her House With Recycled Bottle Caps

There is no denying that plastic Pollution is one of the biggest problems of our generation. On a global scale, we produce 300 million tons of plastic each year and 78 percent is never recycled. Unfortunately, that plastic is sent to landfills, where it eventually ends up in the planet’s oceans and waterways.

Unfortunately, wherever plastic is, it’s there forever. In the oceans, it can break down into tiny particles. not visible to the naked eye, known as microplastics — and there are actually deep regions of the ocean that serve as a reservoir for this stuff. Sadly, over 700 marine species are in danger of extinction due to the threats plastic poses to them.

Our plastic problem is so bad,  many scientists believe that we have entered a new geological era, called the Anthropocene, characterized by the permanent mark humans have left on the face of the planet. In other words, future anthropologists will have no shortage of plastic “fossils” to help figure out the way we lived because unlike materials made from earth or stone, plastic is much less likely to disintegrate. We understand that this is a lot to digest, but not all humans are plastic-chucking scourges upon the planet. Some, like Olga Kostina, have taken plastic trash and created something that future anthropologists would be delighted to discover.

It’s an understatement to say Kostina’s home, located in Kamarchaga, Siberia, looks different from other homes.

From a distance, the exterior of the house looks like beautiful macrame but up close, one can see that Kostina has crafted her artwork using thousands of plastic bottle caps.

According to designboom, Kostina collected over 30,000 bottle caps herself…

…and once she felt that she had enough, she hammered each cap by hand into colorful patterns and murals by using the traditional macrame technique of weaving.

Not only is Kostina’s skill impressive, but she has helped keep thousands of bottle caps out of the waste stream.

There is an objective beauty about Kostina’s home. It is the embodiment of one man’s trash becoming another’s treasure. But the fact of the matter is, the art that now decorates her home only exists because plastic has become so ubiquitous in our society – and that’s a problem. To learn about how you can be part of the solution, join One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic movement!

Let’s #CrushPlastic! Click the graphic below for more information.

All image source: Ilya Naymushin