Eco-artists in Hong Kong wage war on plastic through works that raise awareness of issues both local and global
More art is being created worldwide to build awareness and stimulate dialogue on environmental issues. From Hong Kong’s ArtVplastic project to Disney characters in distress, we check out the latest in eco-art
“This is what makes me angry,” says artist Martin Lever as he extracts a “useless” stirrer from his coffee. “Single-use plastic – it’s got to end.”
We’re at a cafe in Causeway Bay, a busy shopping district on Hong Kong Island, and Lever is on a mission. It is one motivated by the worrying amount of waste the ocean regularly coughs up near his home on rural Lantau, an outlying island in the Chinese special administrative region.
Hong Kong’s plastic waste epidemic, and why it’s bad news for all of us
He wants a rethink on single-use plastic items that are used only once before being chucked out or recycled: thing like bags, straws, coffee stirrers, water bottles and most food packaging.
“Plastic waste in our seas is an issue that hits home hard for me, living on the beach in beautiful Pui O, and regularly seeing the problem first-hand,” says Lever, whose 2015 series of abstract “Groundscapes” paintings was inspired by some of Hong Kong’s best-loved beaches.
Lever reels off some depressing numbers. According to the World Economic Forum, 311 million tonnes of plastic was produced worldwide in 2014, a figure that continues to increase every year. About eight million tonnes of that ends up in our seas annually, according to research published in the journal Science in 2015.
He says small behavioural changes, such as cafes banning coffee stirrers and plastic straws, can make a big difference. Plastic straws have become somewhat of a poster child for environmentalists worldwide, prompting action to ban them (Costa Rica has done so, while Taiwan and Britain are working on plans to follow suit).