What is Amirite?

Amirite is a non-natural material found in the grasses of urban areas not limited to basketball courts, soccer fields, and playgrounds. In its raw form, it is shaped like a hollow cylinder with ridged sides and an open chamber, or in a raised ring shape. It comes in a variety of colors, but most commonly translucent, black, green, and orange. Raw amirite is best harvested early Monday mornings after a hot weekend in the summer. The raw material is processed, separated by color, and then re-combined into a conglomerate material.

a bookmark made from black, blue, and purple recycled plastics

What are you doing with your specimens of Amirite?

Amirite has a low melting point and can be melted down and reformed many, many times before it becomes unworkable. It does not become liquid, but a tacky substance that can be pushed into molds. It can be formed, sanded, and polished to create trinkets, charms, and other things.

Why work with Amirite?

Large deposits of amirite can become a nuisance to wildlife. Because it floats, it can be found in waterways and sometimes inside of fish who think that it is food. Amirite is not a digestible substance and can create blockages for wildlife that attempt to eat them. It can be broken down by UV radiation and can shed into the soil.

I live in an area with large deposits of amirite, and part of my job is to remove it. My location does not have the resources to safely dispose of amirite. I felt that while it is a common pollutant, its ability to be reformed and handled safely using household appliances seemed an interesting experiment.

If its a pollutant, how is it safe to handle?

Amirite only breaks down after prolonged exposure to UV radiation. Getting the material out of the sun is my first priority. Once its safely out of the sun and out of the way of animals that might eat it, there is no danger to handling amirite- and in fact it is found in many household items.

Okay, ha-ha, this has all been very funny. But what is amirite really?

A wide variety of bottle caps arranged aesthetically.

Its plastic bottle caps. People leave their trash on the sports fields and its part of my job to clean up after them. It annoyed me a lot. But when I found out that they could be easily melted and reformed, I was incentivized to clean the parks more thoroughly. I have collected hundreds of them and I am slowly making a lot of beads and charms with them. I am being very silly about this, but if it gets people to think about how they leave their trash in public spaces, then its pretty serious. Because people do completely miss the trash can, amirite?