BY the year 2050 there will be more plastic rubbish floating in our oceans than fish unless we make some drastic changes to the way use and dispose of plastic materials.
First published at news.com.au on December 19, 2016. Republished in The Herald Sun, The Townsville Bulletin, The Courier Mail,
This is the prediction from a report presented at this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland, which also suggests that marine and bird life will be devastated in just three short decades unless we act now to collectively reduce plastic consumption, increase recycling and dispose of plastic waste appropriately.
Yet despite the drastic urgency surrounding this issue, too many people are unaware of just how damaging everyday plastic has the potential to be. To this end, celebrated Canadian photographer and visual artist Benjamin Von Wong has recently launched an international campaign with a series of images he hopes will work to raise awareness and action on plastic pollution in our oceans.
Australians buy around 600 million litres of bottled water a year, and a lot of that plastic ends up in the ocean. Picture: Benjamin Von Wong.Source:Supplied
AUSTRALIA’S PLASTIC ADDICTION
Increasing plastic waste on our beaches and in the sea is devastating marine life, says James Cordwell, marine campaigner for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
“Plastic pollution is a very real threat to our marine environment that has become such a problem that it’s literally choking the life out of our oceans and beaches,” he says.
“You won’t find a beach in Australia that doesn’t have some form of plastic washed up on it.”
The Australian Marine Conservation Society reports that almost 90 per cent of the marine debris found on beaches is plastic — mostly bottles, caps and straws.
Australians buy around 600 million litres of bottled water a year, which then make up around 38 per cent of all plastic in the ocean. And that as a nation we use around 10 million plastic bags a day, which equates to 3.9 billion plastic bags a year.
“Plastic is floating around out there, choking and tangling wildlife,” Cordwell says. “Fish are unknowingly ingesting tiny plastic microparticles and sea turtles are biting into what they think are juicy jellyfish but instead end up with plastic bags stuck in their guts. Even seabirds who find visible plastic out at sea, thinking it’s a fish, bring it back to fed to their chicks who then die from its ingestion.”
If plastic’s damage to our animals and their environment isn’t a strong enough call-to-arms, consider this: according to The Boomerang Alliance, Australia’s prime campaign group on waste and recycling in Australia, every time you eat seafood you’re potentially ingesting these same indestructible plastic particles into your own body.
Von Wong has used a hyper-real style to show the danger our oceans are in — with predictions that bird and marine life will be decimated within three decades because of plastic in our oceans. Picture: Benjamin Von Wong.Source:Supplied
#MERMAIDSHATEPLASTIC
To raise awareness of the ocean’s urgent plight, Benjamin Von Wong, a renowned Canadian conceptual photographer and conservationist, has developed an epic visual movement called #mermaidshateplastic, which he hopes will draw the world’s attention to the grave threat plastic waste poses to the world’s oceans.
Using his signature hyper-realistic art style, Von Wong photographed models transformed into ‘mermaids’ ‘swimming’ amid 10,000 discarded plastic bottles he used to represent the sea. The ambitious shoot took place in a Montreal warehouse where Von Wong staged each of his scenes and photographed from above.
Currently in Australia, Von Wong spoke to news.com.au about the #mermaidshateplastic campaign, which launched globally last week.
“To me, the ocean is … like space but on our own planet and it’s something I find really fascinating,” Von Wong says. “But, virtually every single piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists on the planet today and if we do nothing, by 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the sea and that’s terrifying.”
As an artist, Von Wong says that while he isn’t able to find the tangible solution to this problem, he’s chosen to apply his creative skills to draw the world’s attention to the ocean’s urgent plight. “I’m not a plastics engineer, I can’t create a new material, I can’t impact policy but what I can do, hopefully, is drive awareness,” Von Wong explains.
“I just want to be a part of that positive change to help push people in a direction that will provide more awareness. In this way I might be able to reach someone who is smarter than me or a kid who’s going to think up the next big solution.”
Von Wong is hoping his images inspire people to take every day steps to reduce their plastic consumption. Picture: Benjamin Von Wong.Source:Supplied
THE PLASTIC PLEDGE
While the situation is dire, Cordwall says there are things we can all do every day to reduce our own impact when it comes to plastic waste. “Every step towards using less plastic in our own lives means there’s less chance that it will get into the marine environment,” he says.
“For example, if one person takes a reusable bag to the supermarket, they may think it’s just one bag but if 24 million people do that, it’s a huge reduction in plastic use and waste.”
Also, as we head to the beach this summer for some relief from the heat, Cardwell suggests some simple things we can all do to protect our oceans from increasing plastic pollution.
“The number one rule is ‘take only photographs and leave only footprints.
“If you take stuff to the beach, remember to take it home so it doesn’t end up as litter,” he says. “There’s also this great organisation called Take Three for the Sea. Every time you go to the beach and you see three bits of rubbish, pick them up, take them home and put them in the bin.
“Collectively, if everyone going to the beach this summer does that, it’s a pretty good job by all involved.”
You can also sign Von Wong’s current Change.org petition — Mermaids HatePlastic: Pledge to Re-Use — and promise to make small, individual changes every day towards collectively achieving big results in our ocean’s plight against plastic.
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