Visual Artists

• Beach Plastic ^[1]: the project of artists Judith Selby Lang and  Richard Lang who for over ten years have collected plastic trash from the beach at the Point Reyes National sea shore and incorporated it into beautiful works of art to highlight the environmental issues of plastic pollution. Read about my adventure with Judith and Richard ^[2].
• Chris Jordan Photographic Arts ^[3]: Chris Jordan is a photographer whose series Running the Numbers, a comment on society’s mass consumption, has gone viral.  In 2009, he visited the island of Midway to photograph dead albatross chicks full of plastic pieces.  He’s a committed and passionate activist.
• Deep Deep Trouble ^[4]: Bay Area artist who creates small plastic sculptures that convey literal messages about our plastic pollution problem and culture.
• Dianna Cohen: ^[5] L.A. artist who paints with plastic bags and other trash to create beautiful abstract pieces that comment on our disposable society. Read Dianna’s profile on My Plastic-free Life ^[6] here.
• Kathleen Egan: Bay Area surfer who creates mosaics and sculptures from plastic beach trash, notably a giant plastic bottle wave that can be “surfed” by members of the public. Read Kathleen’s profile on My Plastic-free Life ^[7].
• Martin Waters Environmental Art ^[8]: U.K. artist inspired by nature and the detritus found at Spurn Point,  “a fast disappearing stretch of the East Yorkshire coastline.”
• Plastic Century ^[9]: A group of artists and futurists whose work imagines a world consumed by plastic pollution. See my photos of the Plastic Century art piece ^[10] at the SF Academy of Sciences.
• Plastiquarium ^[11]: David Edgar creates strange marine life from recycled plastic detergent bottles.  His piece, Plastiquarium, envisions a plastic world in which marine creatures have evolved into into strange forms mimicking the plastic that pollutes the sea.  Read my interview with David Edgar ^[12].
• Washed Ashore Project ^[13]:  The Washed Ashore Project builds large art sculptures of sea life made from plastic marine debris, which are part of a traveling exhibition which includes educational signage and programs that encourage reducing, refusing, reusing and recycling.
• Washed Up ^[14]: A stunning photo series by Alejandro Durán.  The compositions depict brilliantly-colored plastic objects arranged deliberately against the natural environment to make a statement about plastic pollution.

Film

Bag It: Is Your Life Too Plastic? ^[15] (I actually have a very small part in this film.)

Bag It Intro ^[16] from Suzan Beraza ^[17] on Vimeo ^[18].

Video

This totally addictive, hilarious video makes me so happy I could cry. Too bad about the commercial that shows up beforehand on the YouTube site.

Check out how this woman can create five reusable bags from one T-shirt!

My favorite video about all the things you can use for garbage and pet waste instead of plastic grocery bags. Bring along your sense of humor as you watch, as you will need it.

Other Videos:

• BBC News Report: Plastic is being eaten by animals throughout the food chain ^[19]
• Point of Return (learn where our recycling goes) ^[20]
• Sky News Report: Green Britain — Are You Poisoning China? ^[21]
• Synthetic Sea ^[22]
• Comedy Central: Stephen Colbert vs. No Impact Man ^[23]
• The Buggles — “Living in the Plastic Age” music video ^[24]
• Micah Wolf’s “One by One” music video ^[25]

Music:

Aeode, Blue Gold, beautiful song about plastic pollution. Listen to song and visit site. ^[26]