Duwamish River Sharps Blanket

Duwamish River Sharps Blanket Loom woven plastic bags collected from Recology King County 70″ x 34″, 2019. Image Courtesy Andrew Giammarco

Nearly every day, workers at Recology and King County encounter “sharps” (also known as syringes) that people put in the recycling bin. When discovered, they enact a safety protocol that includes noting the day and the number of “sharps” discovered.

Duwamish River Sharps Blanket references the Hudson River Point Blankets that were traded to trappers in the 1800s.The size of the blanket was correlated with the number of trapped animals – visualized by Hudson River Point Blankets’ iconic stripes. Instead of trapped animals, Duwamish River Sharps Blanket visualizes intravenous drug users through data collected by Recology workers between January 1, 2019, and June 6, 2019

Mon. = blue

Tues. = red

Wed. = beige

Thurs. = Clear

Fri. = Green.

Each column = 100 “sharps”

Yes, on some days, they found over 1,000 syringe