…..in Abundance, in the company of  350 people attending the  TEDx* talks on Friday at  the University Edinburgh.

My contribution was to create an installation to spark discussion and catalyse debate about Scotland’s problem of beach litter

Talk attendees were asked to follow the sound of the sea  to find the installation,  along the way passing  statements about the condition of the beaches and litter found. Reaching the installation room they were asked to Enter, Consider  and Respond –  by tweeting a picture and comment. On entering the room the viewer was confronted by a collage of projected images of seemingly massive floating plastic  bottles which emanated from seven overhead projectors positioned throughout the room . Participants were encouraged to walk around, reposition bottles on the projectors  and to ask questions about the issue. Many engaging in discussion with me about the  major part that plastics plays in the problem.

A display of a few of the ‘future  fossils’ helped to introduce the issue of the longevity of the litter problem and my new crowd funding appeal video gave an on the beach background to the project.  In the centre of the floor a 1 metre square was marked out with plastic drinks bottles I had recently found in a similar area on a beach last month , bottles like the ones we use everyday for 5 minutes which might have  contained  water, juice, coke …. prompting the question why are we using bottles made of a material that lasts up to 1,000+years when the contents are drunk in a few minutes ? Prompting comments like:

 It’s not even good for you to drink out of ta plastic bottle!!  

Where does what you drop end up? Here               One day the ocean will throw it all back at us

We’re paying today the price  for a  mind set from a time when environmentalism still didn’t exist in our vocabularies

Make rubbish valuable e.g. non throwaway bottles.

There needs to be an incentive to recycle. For example in Scandinavia you’re charged 20c per bottle if you return it , you’re given money back. In my time living in Finland I didn’t once see bottles lying around.

Please comment on the installation and the event

* TEDx is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TED’s mission is to freely promote “ideas worth spreading”. TED Technology, Education,  Design. Talks are offered for free viewing on line in 2012 TED Talks had been watched one billion times worldwide