Author: Nate Drag | Watershed Project Coordinator, New York
The growing amount of plastic our society creates and disposes of has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. While offering convenience and affordability, products that contain plastic, ranging from fast food straws to the computer I’m typing on, have unintended consequences. Littering our streets, waterways, and shorelines, plastic pollution has become a significant social, economic, and ecological problem. As I have written in the past, there is new research that is being done to understand the severity of this problem. And at the same time, both the private and public sectors have begun to work towards changing this pattern. But there is still a lot of work to do – and a lot of plastic out there.
To raise awareness about plastic pollution, the Alliance for the Great Lakes and the California-based 5 Gyres Institute have teamed up to create a traveling exhibit called Plastic Waters: From the Great Lakes to the Oceans. The exhibit opens this Friday evening, August 1st and kicks off with an
opening reception with refreshments at 7:00 pm at the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center on Route 5 in Hamburg, NY. The Seaway Trail center, which is housed in the converted Wanakah Water Works building and is now a visitors’ and education center, will run the exhibit from Aug. 2 through Sept. 1 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There will also be a number of events held in conjunction with the exhibit throughout the month of August.
Part art gallery and part science display, this exhibit features items that have been collected on 5 Gyres’ research voyages across the world’s oceans and right here in the Great Lakes. From derelict fishing nets to microbeads, this debris is presented in its raw form, in artistic interpretations, and even in the form of a camel’s stomach contentsto show the depth and severity of the impacts plastic pollution is having on ecosystems around the world.
One of the most interesting components of exhibit is the emphasis on the people involved in the research and solutions to plastic pollution. A series of masks, created from recovered plastic debris melted and molded by 5 Gyres founder Marcus Eriksen to represent leading oceanographers and researchers like Dr. Slyvia Earle (Mission Blue) and Dr. Hideshige Takada (Pellet Watch). Locally, the exhibit will feature pieces that are created from trash collected by Adopt-a-Beach™ volunteers on beaches and shorelines this summer here in Western New York. The artists hope that all of these pieces will help raise public awareness of the issue and inspire solutions ranging from smarter product design to new legislation that can help address the problem. The message is clear, this is our water, our beach, our Great Lakes and we can all take action to preserve and protect them for our communities.
In addition to Friday’s opening reception, the additional events occurring will include:
Aug. 8, 6 p.m., Adopt-a-Beach™ cleanup followed by celebration, Woodlawn Beach State Park, (must be 21 or older to attend the celebration)
Aug. 16, 10 a.m., Adopt-a-Beach™ cleanup, Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center
Aug. 23, 10 a.m., Adopt-a-Beach™ cleanup, Hamburg Town Park Beach
Aug. 26, 7-9 p.m., Science Café: Discussion about plastic pollution and microbeads with guest speakers, Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center
For Adopt-a-Beach™ cleanups, please register at www.greatlakesadopt.org.
Here’s some background on our organization, 5 Gyres Institute and The Lake Erie Seaway Trail…
Formed in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is the oldest Great Lakes organization in North America. Our mission is to: conserve and restore the world’s largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. For more about the Alliance for the Great Lakes, visit www.greatlakes.org or contact Nate Drag, ndrag@greatlakes.org, 716-261-9393.
The 5 Gyres Institute was co-founded by Marcus Eriksen, Ph.D. and Anna Cummins. The name 5 Gyres refers to the 5 ocean circulation systems in subtropical regions that accumulate plastic pollution. Its mission is to conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, and employ strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the 5 subtropical gyres. For more about the 5 Gyres Institute, contact Marcus Eriksen at the 5 Gyres Institute: info@5gyres.org, 323-395-1843, www.5gyres.org.
The Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center serves as a tourism and visitors center for the western segment of the New York State Seaway Trail system. We provide a valuable resource for attracting tourists and visitors and enhancing their knowledge and understanding of important historical, cultural, environmental, scenic, and recreational resources in the immediate Hamburg area, as well as the wealth of tourist and recreational opportunities in Erie County, Niagara County, the Southern Tier, and the western Seaway Trail corridor and region. More about the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center is online at www.lakeerieseawaytrail.org or through Lyn Braun, lestc2012@gmail.com, 716-646-6684.