Burke Resident Makes Treasures Out of Trash

Few would think twice about casting away used plastic bags, but, when Burke elementary school teacher Brijana Anderson sees disposable every day items, she sees art. 

After a lifetime making unique crafts out of expired credit cards, old bottle caps, and broken crayons, Anderson was used to making adorable art out of affordable recyclables. Anderson then saw that plastic bags, which had held groceries or other merchandise for only an hour or two, were carelessly being thrown away. She spent hours volunteering for Fairfax County, picking up stray bags that others had carelessly tossed aside at local parks.

“Seeing so much trash and litter made me even more aware of how we should take a closer look at what we use every day, and find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle,” Anderson said.

Instead of passively watching as hundreds of plastic bags went to waste around her, Anderson decided to take action and make art. Anderson weaves bowls and baskets out of gently used plastic bags that she collects from friends, collection bins, and her own daily life.

“It's hard to walk past the bag-recycling bin outside of Giant without drooling," Anderson said. "I have been known to do a little diving if I see a really cool bag in the recycling bin."

An eight-inch basket takes the determined artist six hours to weave, though she often does not finish the entire piece on one sitting. Instead, she lovingly crafts, letting the piece unfold before her. She tries to pick plastic bags of interesting colors, matching them together to make an appealing final result.

“The thing that keeps this craft so engaging is that even I'm curious as to what the finished product will look like,” Anderson said.

Once completed, Anderson sells her wares in her shop on Etsy, a website where artists can sell their handmade crafts in an online storefront and receive commission and inquiry from interested buyers. Though she receives orders from all over the country, Anderson, a resident of Burke for three years and a resident of Fairfax County for eight, also arranges to deliver her art personally to local buyers.

The business has proved lucrative, and customers and requests have poured in. Items sold range from standard eight-inch baskets to tutorials so others can make their own sustainable art. Anderson makes custom baskets for buyers upon request, and has even woven a baby-sized basket for a New Orleans based photographer who used Anderson’s work as a prop in a photo shoot.

“It took countless hours to make one large enough for a baby, but I'm very proud of it,” Anderson said.

For Anderson, life reflects art. Besides turning hundreds of almost discarded bags into art, she and her husband comb thrift stores for cheap finds, saving money and elevating waste. As a resident of Burke, Anderson inspires those around her to take after her environmentally friendly example.

“If you have kids who like arts and crafts, encourage them to turn something old into something new again using their creativity," Anderson said. "Kids are natural ‘makers’ and showing them the potential in every day objects teaches them resourcefulness and innovation."

Basket by basket, Anderson weaves in the hopes that sustainable efforts such as hers will move America towards an environmentally responsible future. “With all the energy put into making the bags, we owe it to the bags to reuse them in some fashion,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s store, Bags Again, can be accessed at bagsagain.etsy.com. The artist can arrange to deliver baskets to Burke residents free upon request, and can be contacted at bagsagain@hotmail.com.