Seems used bottles can be put to good use!

It’s ingenious ideas like this one that make me feel more hopeful of the situation with plastics and waste. Not only does it put plastic bottles to good use, it also helps people and for very little cost!

Grey Dhaka worked with volunteers from Grameen Intel Social Business Ltd to create and design the Eco-cooler. It re-uses bottles to cool houses without the use of electricity.

 

(Image retrieved from Eco Cooler | Grey Advertising APAC | Grameen Intel. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://grey.com/apac/work/key/eco-cooler/id/12475/)

 

The Deputy General Manager of Grameeen Intel Social Business Ltd, Abdullah Al Mamun says of the design,

“Since most rural homes in Bangladesh are made with corrugated tin, the Eco-Cooler has the power to provide relief to millions of Bangladeshis. We sincerely hope this volunteer effort will make a difference in their lives”

“After initial tests, blueprints of the Eco-Cooler were put up online for everyone to download for free. Raw materials are easily available, therefore, making Eco-Coolers a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solution”, said Syed Gousul Alam Shaon, Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Grey Dhaka.

Here is a link to the video showing the Eco-Coolers in use.

Brilliant. We can find a way to reduce wastage and in positive ways that help people.

 

References:

Eco Cooler | Grey Advertising APAC | Grameen Intel. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://grey.com/apac/work/key/eco-cooler/id/12475/

Eco-Cooler | Grey Dhaka unveils world’s first zero-electricity air cooler made from plastic bottles [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSbZWNk84F4

Eco-Cooler. (n.d.). Eco-Cooler. Retrieved from http://revolution-green.com/air-conditioner-less-5/

 

 

Creating the Crest

When brainstorming early in the process of creating our wave, the idea was to use not only plastic bottles, but a variety of plastics as the consumption of all plastics types, not only bottles, that invade the natural habitat of the oceans. One of the best ways of using other plastics is on the crest of the wave, where bubble wrap has been used to resemble the white foam that large waves create as they crash. We want to create a sense of our plastic wave coming down or over the viewer as it creates a simple direct link to the oceans plastic pollution.

 

We attached a layer of bubble wrap to the front of the wave. This is the crest of the wave where the white lights are placed. This catches the light and creates a really amazing frothy looking front to our wave. We attached the bubble wrap using fishing wire to the wire mesh frame. Threading the lights within the bubble wrap will hopefully protect them a bit from the elements.

We have also incorporated thick industrial plastic bags by sewing them in with nylon and a tapestry needle to hide the mesh frames on the inside, through the middle behind the milk bottles, and then also at the sides to join the front and back of the wave. Sewing the bubble wrap onto the front was easy enough compared to most of the wiring required in this project! However, threading the plastic behind the milk bottles was quite challenging, as by this stage all the other bottles had been strung onto the structure, which made it difficult to get right into the centre to attach the plastic sheets.

Image are our own.

 

The Second Layer

After completing the first layer we attached the blue LED string lights onto the wave using cable ties to secure them to the bottles creating lines going up and down the wave.
Just before attaching them we measured out the length of the lights in relation to the size of the top of the wave (which is roughly 1.9h by 2.5w). We discovered we would need two more sets of string lights to cover and create the aesthetic view we wanted to achieve. With these on we continued to attach the second layer of bottles over the top of the lights. Attaching them using the same method as the first layer.

Once the back of the curve was finished, we were able to move on to attaching the front of the wave. We used milk bottles at the very front as these diffused the light from the EL wire and the light that would go inside the wave.

We threaded the milk bottles the same way as the other bottles, however, we also threaded the EL wire through them before attaching to the structure. This way the wire lit up more of the bottles and was easier to secure in the required places.

 

Its dark, cold and raining in the images above. But the wave must go on! Many bits of chocolate have been used in the making of this wave, as fuel for the makers 😉

Images are our own.

So Much Plastic

This project has been a real eye opener to the mass amounts of plastic consumed daily around the world, but also here in Nelson, the quantity of plastic bottles that are processed at the local recycling plant is staggering!
We made four trips to the recycle center, due to not having room in the vehicle to transport large amounts of plastic at a time. Of these four trips we only collected a small percentage of the plastic waste that accumulates daily.

Through this large scaled installation for Light Nelson, we want to portray to the public the unbelievable amounts of plastic consumed, but also how this material is terrible for the environment and often ends up polluting the beautiful oceans due to lack of space for all the waste accumulated by plastic produce.

The plastic has been sourced from the local recycling centre in Tahunanui and also the Richmond Resource Recovery Centre. The Richmond centre is the destination where all the recycling for the area is sent to be sorted, crushed and then processed before being shipped offshore to be created into other items. Both of these places have been extremely helpful by helping us sort through the plastics, and at the Richmond Resource Recovery Centre, letting us retrieve the bottles before crushing them for shipments.

Pictured above shows us washing bottles, peeling labels, the strength of the glues left on afterwards, and also the temporary small stacks piled up in anticipation for installment.

After managing to source an unbelievable number of plastic bottles, we than have had to select the more suitable forms (and separate the squashed ones as this prevents the bottles fitting together), wash them all and then take the labels off the brands of bottles that the labels were possible to get off.
Taking the labels off the bottles made us aware of how bad the glues are for the environment, as they are extremely potent and toxic, being produced at the expense of our habitat. Each label is either entirely plastic or coated in a thin plastic film, which would also be created using machinery that pollutes the surroundings. The pile of plastic labels we pulled from the bottles was staggering too. Surely there is a better way to brand products?

One may think that washing them was unnecessary, but we were surprised (unfortunately!) by the state that people leave their plastic in when putting it in to be recycled. Most were obviously not even rinsed out, still contained the drink in it, some were covered in food, and most had the bottle lids still on (which makes the air inside smell horrible and also stagnant!). It was quite an unpleasant job!

We haven’t tried to count the individual plastics we have collected, but will do a rough estimate of the bottles included in the wave. At the end of installation we plan to return these bottles to the recycle center.

Images are our own.

EL wire arrives

EL wire stands for Electroluminescent wire, this lighting consists of a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an electrical current is run through it.

This is some lighting we would like to use to light our wave. It doesn’t appear that bright in daylight, but when you get it in the dark – it looks pretty cool! We ordered this light blue EL wire online. It should hopefully create a good glow for our wave. We want it to glow from within, rather than have a light source outside of it illuminate it.

 

 

(Images are our own.)

References:

Electroluminescent wire – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved  2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroluminescent_wire

 

James Turrell Light artist

(Image retrieved from Skyspace | University of Texas – James Turrell. Accessed , 2016. http://turrell.utexas.edu/.)

James Turrell makes beautiful light works often on a very large scale. I find his works inspirational.

Turrell says of himself, “I am known as a light artist, but rather than be someone who depicted light or painted light in some way, I wanted to have the work to be light.” (Quote from James Turrell ,” James Turrell Exhibition Website, accessed May, 2016, http://web.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/turrell/.)

James Turrell created Aten Reign (see below) specifically for the Guggenheim Museum in 2013. It was designed for this site, to compliment the space it was to inhabit. The space is filled with light, it becomes an optical experience invoking a response in the viewer. The site and the installation work are cohesive, they work together as complimentary partners. It is set up in the rotunda, where natural light is filtered down through the top of the cone and mixed with the light that the LED’s generate. Aten Reign is constructed of layers of cones in an elliptical shape, suspended from the ceiling, that start about 25 feet above the ground and occupies the space up to the rotunda. The LED lights shine upwards and are controlled by a programme, which was developed by a team at the Guggenheim Museum following instructions from Turrell.

James Turrell, Aten Reign (2013), Guggenheim Museum.

(Image retrieved Turrell, James. “Aten Reign.” n.d. Guggenheim Museum. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2013/09/17/believe-your-eyes-at-lacma-and-the-guggenheim-artist-james-turrell-will-make-you-hallucinate-with-light/#1c5dafd02174)

Turrell uses light to help shape our experience, to make us aware of our senses and the power light can have. His work is inspiring especially since he works on such a large scale. I will be eagerly awaiting the completion of the Roden Crater Project, where Turrell is transforming an extinct volcanic cone he acquired in 1979 into a world of light art and natural observatories.

Roden Crater, East Portal 2010.

(Image retrieved from Holzherr, Florian. 

“Turrell has created special rooms for the sunrise, sunset and the moon, providing for astronomical events for the next two thousand years. However, only very few people will have the chance to encounter these spectacular moments due to the small numbers of visitors allowed per day and the rare nature of celestial constellations, like the 18 year cycle for the moon appearing in the center of the crater tunnel. Concurrently, a camera obscura effect will cast a moon image on the back wall of the tunnel. “( Quote “Light Matters: Seeing the Light with James Turrell.” ArchDaily. Accessed , 2016. http://www.archdaily.com/380911/light-matters-seeing-the-light-with-james-turrell.)

References

“”Aten Reign” at the Guggenheim and James Turrell’s Skyspaces.” YouTube. n.d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wih1K71hYlk.

“BeautifulNow is Beautiful Now | The Art of Orange Light Now.” BeautifulNow is Beautiful Now. Accessed May, 2016. http://beautifulnow.is/bnow/the-art-of-orange-light-now.

“Forbes Welcome.” Forbes Welcome. Accessed May, 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2013/09/17/believe-your-eyes-at-lacma-and-the-guggenheim-artist-james-turrell-will-make-you-hallucinate-with-light/#1c5dafd0217

Skyspace | University of Texas – James Turrell. Accessed , 2016. http://turrell.utexas.edu/.

“Light Matters: Seeing the Light with James Turrell.” ArchDaily. Accessed , 2016. http://www.archdaily.com/380911/light-matters-seeing-the-light-with-james-turrell

 

 

Armatures

We have been looking at different ways to form our wave. A tutor suggested we look at armatures. Armatures are frameworks around which a sculpture is formed. It provides the strength and structure to a sculpture. We could build a wooden or metal armature to give our wave something to build our bottles up around. We have also considered using bamboo. When soaked a bit with water they can be shaped or bent into a curved shape. There is also welding rods we could use. See images below.

I found this blog post about an Elephant sculpture made up of parts of old trains, House for an Art Lover (HAL) in 2014 worked in collaboration with the Scottish artist Kenny Hunter. HAL commissioned the creation of a ‘life-size’ elephant. Pictures of their armature can be seen below.

(Images retrieved from “August | 2014 | Elephant for Glasgow.” Elephant for Glasgow | Kenny Hunter Creates Life Size Elephant in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Accessed , 2016. https://elephantforglasgow.wordpress.com/2014/08/.)

This is a really interesting project and definitely worth a look at their blog.

References:

“August | 2014 | Elephant for Glasgow.” Elephant for Glasgow | Kenny Hunter Creates Life Size Elephant in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Accessed , 2016. https://elephantforglasgow.wordpress.com/2014/08/.

 

 

The Cola Bow by Penda

Whilst looking for artworks that might fit with our idea, I came across this large wave. This public installation was designed by Penda in 2013, an international group of creatives based in Beijing and Vienna. They combine the perspectives of both East and West into their works, and focus on green works with particular attention to nature. The Cola Bow, incorporated 17,000 recycled bottles in the shape of the coca cola swirl logo. It is intended to draw attention to the reuse and recycling of plastic bottles.

It is important that we get the structure and design right for our installation. I searched  for some information on armatures, and found this interesting artist Marta Thoma Hall. Marta is President of Velodyne Acoustics Inc., where she oversees the design and development of new products. As an artist, she uses bottles to convey an environmental message. The below image is titled Journey of a bottle and is at the Walnut Creek Library in California.

She says,

” I approach industrial design as sculpture and think about composition, shape, and materials. The process is the same whether you are designing a 30-foot sculpture or a pair of headphones.”

 

References:

“Artist Marta Thoma Hall Makes Sculpture Transforming Bottles While Day Job Includes Designer Audiophile Headphones.” California Newswire. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://californianewswire.com/artist-marta-thoma-hall-makes-sculpture-transforming-bottles-while-day-job-includes-designer-audiophile-headphones/.

“Cosmos | ArtSWFL.com.” SWFL Art in the News | ArtSWFL.com. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://www.artswfl.com/public-art-2/fgcu-public-art-2/cosmos/cosmos.

“This Beautiful, Cleverly Created Wave of Plastic Coke Bottles Reminds Us to Recycle | Design | ClubFlyers Magazine Articles on Design.” ClubFlyers Magazine. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://clubflyersmag.com/this-beautiful-cleverly-created-wave-of-plastic-coke-bottles-reminds-us-to-recycle-2468.

Thoma Hall, Marta. “Journey of a Bottle.” Captive Wild Woman. n.d. Walnut Creek Library, California. http://captivewildwoman.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/marta-thoma-journey-of-bottle-at-walnut.html.

“Upcycled Coca Cola Plastic Bottle Pavilion • Creative Spotting.” Creative Spotting. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://www.creativespotting.com/2015/03/upcycled-coca-cola-plastic-bottle-pavilion/#arvlbdata.

 

 

 

On a brighter note

Whilst seeing all these horrible, depressing images of polluted seas and entangled wildlife, there are amazing people out there really trying to make a change.

A young Dutch entrepreneur, Boyan Slat has been studying ways to deal with this problem in our oceans. Slat says he was diving in Greece in 2011 when he saw more plastic bags in the sea than fish. He found it alarming, he says  “Everyone said to me: ‘Oh there’s nothing you can do about plastic once it gets into the oceans,’ and I wondered whether that was true.”  He saw this challenge and has been striving to find a solution.

He has won several prizes for his research and designs including Best Technical Design 2012 at the Delft University of Technology. Slat has gone onto develop his ideas further and founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2013. He has designed the Coastal Pilot a 2000-meter boom that by using natural wave action, herds the plastic debris into a central receptacle.

Aerial view design of Coastal Pilot 

These massive Ocean garbage patches are vast but dispersed. The booms act like an artificial coastline, and the plastics are concentrated together. This action is powered 100% by natural ocean currents.

Below is a chart of what needs to be done and where they are on it currently.

 

 

To read more about the work The Ocean Cleanup are doing click here

Here is the Ted talk Boyan Slat gave about cleaning up the oceans.

 

References:

“19-Year-Old Student Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World’s Oceans | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building.” Inhabitat | Design For a Better World!. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://inhabitat.com/19-year-old-student-develops-ocean-cleanup-array-that-could-remove-7250000-tons-of-plastic-from-the-worlds-oceans/.

“An aerial overview of the trash-collecting boom.” The Ocean Cleanup. n.d. http://mentalfloss.com/article/64630/20-year-old-invented-new-way-clean-oceans.

“E 02 Boyan Slat Beyond the Horizon Directed by Jared Leto.” YouTube. n.d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M4vIPr98gM.

The Ocean Cleanup, Developing Technologies to Extract, Prevent and Intercept Plastic Pollution. Accessed May 23, 2016. http://www.theoceancleanup.com/.

“Solution to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” YouTube. n.d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrbtYlku-k.

Quote taken from:

“The Dutch Boy Mopping Up a Sea of Plastic.” BBC News. Accessed , 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29631332.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not just us

The more I have researched this topic, the more I have come across images of animals/birds/fish and other marine life tangled up in plastic waste. Some are still alive, others are not. Our consumption of plastics is not just impacting on us, but the creatures around us too. It is heartbreaking looking at some of these images, so I will only include a few here. I think it’s images like this, that show the detrimental effect we are having on our planet. There is a way and each of us have the ability to do something about it. We need to step off this train of going with the flow on how we purchase things. When I was little, milk was delivered in glass bottles, put out again for collection when finished and reused. Whilst collecting my own recyclables for this project I am shocked at the amount of plastic bottles my family goes through! It is kind of sickening and as I go to add yet another plastic milk bottle to the pile, I am aware again of how much we need to make a change.

Enter a caption

A sea lion pup with a plastic bag wrapped tightly around its neck. It was rescued from Santa Monica Beach.

References:

Cancalosi, John. Speak Up For Blue. n.d. http://www.speakupforblue.com/5-ways-to-seriously-reduce-your-plastic-pollution.

“This sea lion pup has a plastic bag wrapped tightly around its neck. MAR rescued the sea lion from Santa Monica Beach.” Marine Animal Rescue. n.d. http://whalerescueteam.org/rescue-stories/other-rescue-stories/.