A sculpture of a sailfish, 13 meters long and 4.5 meters high, was made with 3,000 plastic bottles collected during beach cleaning days.It is an exhibition that is part of the campaign promoted by the Preserve Planet Association: “#NoSeasPlástico”, whose objective is to generate awareness and promote commitment in the population about the disproportionate use of single-use plastic and its consequences on the environment.
“The work was carried out after some citizens became aware of the catastrophe that single-use plastic is generating in the oceans,” explained Luis Diego Marín, regional coordinator of Preserve Planet, who added: “It is very unfortunate that the Costa Rican Legislature does not take this extremely dangerous situation seriously. It is urgent to tax disposable plastic, in this way more sustainable alternatives such as returnable glass, reusable bags and containers would be encouraged”.The work was carried out by the Scouts and volunteers from Quepos.
A moving exhibition
Those who wish to meet it will have the opportunity to do so in various parts of the country.Between November, December and January, the itinerary starts at the Municipal Museum of Cartago, where the exhibition will open in coordination with the Municipality of Cartago, on Thursday, November 17th, at 10 a.m. It will remain there until Sunday, December 11th.
Later it will go to Terramall, where visitors will be able to admire the work of the sailfish from Monday, December 12th to Monday, December 26th. The final destination will be the Orotinapark, where it will be from December 26th to January 15th, 2023.
“The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness for our mode of consumption in relation to single-use disposable plastic. Mainly, to emphasize the levels of contamination of our sewers and storm outlets, which is currently the most important reason for severe flooding in Costa Rica. In addition, our duty is to inform the impact on the food chain and on our health, caused by microplastics” added Marín.
400 million tons of disposable plastic are produced annually
According to Preserve Planet, the planet annually produces more than 400 million tons of disposable plastic, which means that more than one million plastic bottles are consumed worldwide every minute.Regarding the national panorama, approximately 700 million plastic bottles are consumed each year, of which only 10% is recycled.
For this reason, through the elaboration of the artistic work of the sailfish, the Association shows the Costa Rican citizens the great impact that plastic generates and the need to raise awareness about the urgency of reducing the impact of single-use plastic on the environment and the importance of rejecting the use of all types of disposable plastic, especially that which comes from the three main sources: bags, bottles and straws.
“We want people to understand that every year more than a million birds and more than a hundred thousand marine mammals die from plastic pollution. It is also important to know the data and educate citizens about the damage that plastic containers cause to the planet and to human health”, concluded Marín.
