Current Total 1919

On Tuesday 14 August, a small group of dedicated flower makers met to count and sort the flowers that have been made and delivered to the Museum so far, and a total of 1919 flowers were bagged ready for use. The flowers are being sorted by colour, and then subdivided into three categories for each of pale, medium and dark. The most popular colour is scarlet (medium red) and there are twice as many as the average of all other colours. Our least popular colour is pale orange. This can all change, especially as we know there are lots of flowers still to be delivered.

The flowers are being bagged in clear plastic bags donated by Ballarat Regional Industries and currently being stored on Tram 661 which will eventually be turned into the 2019 Floral Tram.

New People

There have been a number of new groups join the project during August including the Sing Australia Choir and the Ballarat North Neighborhood House Craft Group. The Ballan branch of the CWA have also expressed interest in taking part and using the technique to make plastic poppies for Remembrance Day. Also we welcomed new flower makers to our August workshops at the Tramway Museum.

No More Milk Bottles!

Thanks to everyone who has been recycling their plastic bottles, but we are being inundated with milk bottles. Unless these have been cleaned with hot water and detergent immediately after use, they have quite a strong odor and are most unpleasant to work with.

A big thankyou to everyone who has been collecting plastics for use in the project, including Mount Rowan College, Vicroads, Ballarat Courier, and many other who have dropped off bottles and lids into our collection box at the museum.

The Target

Tram 661, built in 1934, is a big tram, a W3 class for those who know what this means, and we estimate we will need a minimum of 3000 flowers to cover the side panels. Then there is the front and back, and other spots that can be covered, so keep those flowers coming.

Wes Death from Grampians Central West Waste and Resource Recovery Group was at the August Workshops to take photos and video for promoting the project as a community recycling program. He spent time interviewing Pamela about the history of the project. We will keep you up to date on this part of the project.

The first Floral Tram 1938

Next Workshops at the Museum

* Tuesday 4 September 11.00 till 12.30
* Sunday 9 September, 1.00 till 3.00
* Tuesday 2 October 11.00 till 12.30
* Sunday 14 October 1.00 till 3.00

Also:
Ballarat North Neighbourhood House
* Wednesday 5 September 9.30 till 12.00

Microplastics

There has been a lot of media attention about recycling plastic and the danger of single use plastics. I was surprised to read this recent article in Scientific American that scientists have been aware of the danger of microplastics since the early 1970s.

Earth Has A Hidden Plastic Problem