With increases in plastic ending up in the ocean, people have been getting creative with solutions to remove the debris. One method is to use collected or recycled materials to create art pieces including sculptures, jewelery, and murals. Check out some of the beautiful creations below to get inspiration for your own recycled art!
Fig. 1. This art peice was made by children in 2013 and put on display at the “Eco-Friendly In the Park” Earth Day Expo near Riseley Field at Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi. It is made of recycled bottle caps pasted together.
Image courtesy of Lance Cpl. Matthew Bragg, U.S. Marine Corps
Fig. 2. The sculpture entitled "Emanciplástico" stands over 10 feet tall at the Charles Darwin Research enter on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. The title represents a need for freedom from plastic and is made from plastic materials collected on the shores of the Galapagos Islands.
To learn more about their process in this project, check out the DarwinFoundation.org
Image courtesy of Emily Sesno
Fig. 3. This mural, representing the face of NBA star Kelly Olynyk, is made of pieces of recycled vinyl in the fence of Thompson Rivers University in British Columba, Canada.
To learn more about the art project, check out this article about it's installation.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia
Fig. 4. This Mexico City garden installment consists of 14 vertically-hanging recycled plastic bottles to becoming flower pots.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia
Fig. 5. A Recycled Art Contest at Yokota Air Base, Japan in 2015 spanned Earth Week’s theme of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Artworks were composed of bits of plastic, discarded bottle caps, pieces of cardboard, styrofoam, old toys, bottles and more recycled materials.
Image courtesy of Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Baker, U.S. Air Force
Fig. 6. This marine debris sculpture in Bandon, Orgeon is named Henry the Fish. The organization Washed Ashore rallies volunteers to clean beaches, using the collected debris to create larger-than-life sculptures of the marine life affected by ocean trash.
Image courtesy of NOAA
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