Becoming a parent can bring anxiety, financial burden, and conflict with one’s environmental goals due to the sheer volume of new stuff entering your home. Much of it is used for only a short period, generating massive waste. Networks of parents counteract this problem by passing along their outgrown gear, and their wisdom. Gaining another family’s bouncy seat also means first-hand knowledge about life with a baby, while a hand-me-down potty brings insight into this next developmental step.
Like the root systems of trees sharing nutrients, parenting communities ease both the financial and environmental burden of child-rearing by getting the most possible use out of a product. Online networks for local parents, “Buy Nothing” groups, and second-hand stores also help. Consumer culture makes parents think they need a new product every day, with relentless targeted advertising and each purchase only a click away. When products claim increased safety, comfort or opportunity for your child, it is hard to resist. But resistance is possible, in dialogue with others—with exchange serving as the catalyst.
This sculpture began with my third-hand carseat—finally showing its wear-and-tear—which explodes with other unrecyclable baby and kid gear: used bottles and pumping equipment, pacifiers, broken toys, stray parts, single shoes and stuffies left on the curb. Painted in solid colors to unify heterogenous collections, this series reflects our culture through its endless cast-offs. Personal and anonymous objects stuffed together explore connections between people and their belongings, including attachment and memory. In this case, they highlight the material excess of parenting, the potential for waste, and the possibility of reuse.
