Artists Use Their Creativity To Bring Awareness To Ocean Pollution

Like climate change, ocean pollution is affecting all of us.  There is no longer any beach you can visit that won’t have litter.1 One of the biggest contaminants is plastic. 

Take a look at some sobering statistics:



80% of ocean plastic comes from the land.2

¼ of fish sold as food in California contains plastic and has shown to be linked to cancerous tumors in lab animals.3
 
The Environmental Protect Agency estimates only 9% of plastic gets recycled in US.4
 
Harmful BPA’s from plastic affect our health. How we are being exposed to this may shock you. Take a look at this list.
 
Plastic doesn’t biodegrade.6
 
Over 50 billion water bottles are purchased each year-over 80% are not recycled.7
 
By 2050, we could have more plastic than fish in the ocean.8 

Artists around the world are using their creative talent to help bring awareness to this pressing issue.  The Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C. currently has on exhibit seventeen marine life statues made from over 315 pounds of plastic retrieved from the sea: (Link)
 
An Artist in Rio de Janero created giant fish on the beach made of water bottles to bring attention to the issue of ocean plastic during a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: (Link)
 
Grace Bay, voted the number one beach in the world for 2016 by Traveler’s Choice Awards, isn’t immune to the problem of marine debris.  During a recent visit, I found this sculpture made from trash found on the beach.

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Awareness is the first step to change.  If you would like to find out more about this issue and steps that you can take to improve your health, the health of our oceans and all the marine life, please follow me on my social media channels and/or sign up for my weekly blog posts.  If you have creative solutions to reduce, reuse or recycle plastic, please feel free to post them below.  The solution to this problem will require all hands on deck.  If you care, please share this post or the information in it.  Thank you!

#oceanplastic #plastic #marinedebris #health