Turning Trader Joe's Paper Bags Into Art

One artist recycles Trader Joe's bags into livable art.

Artist Kim Smith has a question: What's better for the environment? Cloth, paper or plastic? As she ponders recycling, she picks up scissors and glue and incorporates recycling into her artwork. She loves the color, texture, dirt and wrinkles of the vintage paper she uses in her work, one of her favorite materials isn't vintage at all. "I love working with paper grocery bags. The paper blends well with all of my vintage materials and unlike vintage paper, I can replenish my supply as needed," she quips. "My favorite grocery bag is from Trader Joe's with the red print, the text, the big circle in their logo." Check out how she brown-bags it.

"Orange Envelope" started out as an envelope full of images that she mailed to a new gallery in New York. She mailed it too early though because the gallery location was still a construction site and there was no mail receptacle. The envelope was returned, perfectly tattered and torn, with a big "Undeliverable" stamp across the front. A great canvas for a collage. The Trader Joe's colors worked perfectly with the orange while vintage stamps replaced postage stamps, and a swirl of circles was created on the front. "A Fine Mess We've Gotten Ourselves Into", at right, features rings cut out from Trader Joe's bags and placed in haphazard fashion.

"Trader Joe's Bubbles on a Book Cover" was created when the artist had been away from her studio for an extended period. Reproduction, $124-150. "Juni. Erste Excursion" uses a page from an 1860s German botany book. Reproduction, $124-150.

Now, back to Kim's original question. The "Grocery Bag", seen above, was created in response to an article in Dwell magazine about cloth shopping bags. However, the question of what was really better for the environment -- cloth, paper, or plastic wasn't addressed. After submitting an image of her collage to the magazine, Dwell went on to publish it, but the question still remains.

"I've decided that this question may not have a definitive answer. We need grocery bags, as well as garbage bags," says Smith. "Paper comes from trees, is heavy and bulky to transport to stores but it breaks down and decomposes. Plastic is cheaper and lighter weight to transport to stores, and easier to use as garbage bags. Reusable cloth bags are better than grocery bags, but they don't solve the garbage bag problem. It goes on."

While the debate could go on an do, we want to know: what do you use? Paper, plastic or cloth? Weigh in below in our comments section or share your thoughts with us on Facebook or Twitter.