Project sustainable aprons for the Bieslandhof
When I visited the painting club in the De Bieslandhof nursing home in Delft in mid-November 2023, I could not have imagined that I would set up a project to make sustainable aprons possible for these *two* painting clubs.
The Bieslandhof is well known in Delft. It is a nursing home where elderly or disabled people who can no longer take care of themselves find a home. The Bieslandhof has many activities for the residents, including the painting club for both the elderly and people with physical disabilities.
To make these painting activities more sustainable, I go every week to collect dirty acrylic paint rinse water to filter and I take the used cardboard palette plates and torn plastic disposable aprons to process into new works of art. You can read about the how and why in my blog piost about More waste disposal.
I’ve framed some of the palette plates and also had cards printed from them. The paintings can be found here on the website. On Sunday, April 14, 2024, I was on the Markt in Delft with a booth during the Swan Market (a market for handmade products). All proceeds from the sales, both online and at the market itself, went towards the purchase of sustainable aprons made from old tablecloths. My friend and artist Patty Adelaar helped me tremendously and donated the proceeds from her Malle Eppies for this cause. We raised a nice amount, but not quite enough to cover ALL costs, so the proceeds from further sales still go to this cause.
The aprons have been made at Stichting Stunt, the cards are printed at Print Plezier. Both Delft companies provide workplaces for people at a distance from the labor market and attach great importance to the environment. For example, Stichting Stunt only wants to work with used materials and Print Plezier has beautiful types of paper made from recycled material.
I’ve listened carefully to the participants who tested the prototype for me. It was quite stiff and rigid. There are still a few of them, but they will also become more flexible after a lot of use. The rest of the aprons are flexible and soft. One lady said that she hadn’t even noticed that she was wearing an apron. Another lady suddenly exclaimed: “They look like dresses!” Even the aprons with Christmas motifs were lovingly touched with the words: “Beautiful apron”.
It is still a party every week to see everyone sitting with those beautiful aprons.
But I have not run out of ideas. I now want a zero-waste painting club and some steps have already been taken to achieve that.