I threw this away today in my frenzy of cleaning. It’s a bag from the gift shop at the Tower of London that I have been holding on to for four years. Strange the things we feel compelled to keep as memories. But it was time for it to go as it was quickly disintegrating all over my shelves every time it was moved or touched. I don’t know that the Australian sunlight agreed with the English plastic.
I suspect some bags are designed to break down quickly, as a response to problems with landfill space. I had a bag from the university bookshop that I shoved in a drawer about four years ago and recently found as, essentially, a bluish powder.
But it wouldn’t surprise me if the sharp extremes in temperature and the humidity were too much for it. Pity, but it probably would have disintegrated even if you’d framed it or tried some other sort of preservation.
Oh!..yes I didn’t consider the biodegradable possibilities! that could be the explanation most definitely. I never think to look after things like this until it’s too late, sadly.
No, neither do I, though I did once frame a Postpack (from a geeky T-shirt company that commissioned original artwork for its Postpacks).
If it is biodegradable, I doubt there’s anything you could have done, though. Maybe next time you go shopping at the Tower of London, they’ll have moved on to Woolworths-style canvas shopping bags.
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