The Art of Destroying the Planet

The creative artist Tan Zi Xi, created a work of art depicting the mass devastation that could be our world in a beautiful project that shows the amount of nondegradable in our oceans. “Plastic Ocean” which is the name of the art piece is now currently on display at the Sassoon Dock art Project in Mumbai. People visiting the display are able to walk through hundreds of pounds of levitating plastic in order to get the full picture of what our world may look like in a few years. From plastic bags and bottles to containers and packaging it’s all there to see in this art installation.

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I do believe that she has a personal bias against plastic and plastic pollution. Tan Zi Xi is also an environmental artist, which means she focuses mainly on showing art that depicts world changes in the environment and creates art to provoke feelings about those issues. She has done many other works to show her disdain for the way people treat the environment as well as also posting many posts on social media sharing her views with her audience and staying true to her brand.
Tan Zi Xi had this to say about her recent display
“Experience the infinity of Plastic Ocean, and be immersed in this man-made tragedy.
The installation reflects an ocean that is highly cluttered with plastic that takes 1,000 years to degrade. Yes, every thoughtless flick of plastic into your dustbin may contribute to the swirling mass of plastic drifting across our oceans. If we humans have already produced more plastic within the past ten years than the whole of the last century, will this plastic ocean be a microcosm of the future state of our waters?”
11 Tan Zi Xi, “Plastic Ocean” - Stage 3 ideas | trash art, plastic art, installation art
The agenda of this is to show people the magnitude of the problem and how we need to act now and be able to visualize the issue at hand in order to change the way society has been handling the pollution problem. Being able to actually see the problem firsthand is a great way to get people to wake up to the current problem. Tan Zi Xi is very aware that people are visual learners and issues that are out of sight are out of mind. Out of sight out of mind, is the motto for most plastic pollution, and the idea that being able to ship off tons of plastic is an unhealthy mindset to have when the problem is not going away. I also think that tan Zi Xi is also a strong supporter due to the fact she is from Asia and a huge amount of the plastic is shipped off to their shores when they already have an issue with the pollution. Being from Asia, it would definitely affect how she views the world as well as how she sees how bad plastic pollution is when Asia is the number 1 contributor and holder of pollution with plastic. Overall this piece of art is a strong message to the problem of plastic and is a good way to bring awareness.

Saltwater Sensitive Brewery

Today major polluters of plastics today are from major corporations such as Coca Cola, Shell, and Nestle. Each year over 300 million tons of plastic are produced and more than half of that is used by corporations to produce single use plastics that often get thrown into the environment rather than recycled. However some corporations have taken the initiative and began to find more sustainable and eco friendly alternatives. We have all heard of compostable products such as bags, bottles, etc. Although you have probably not heard of edible beer can rings.

Meet Saltwater Brewery; they are a Florida based Brewery that was founded in 2013 with the goal to give back to charities that are working to preserve our oceans, alongside providing a refreshing drink to Floridians. These rings are made out of the byproducts produced during the brewery process, and are hundred percent edible by marine creatures (such as Sea Turtles). In 2016 their company hit the headlines when they became the first brewery to implement Eco Six Pack Rings. In 5 days they were able to obtain 3.5 billion global impressions without investing any money into the media. These rings became available to purchase with their beers in all of their tasting rooms alongside many stores throughout Florida.

Analyzing Saltwater Brewery’s website they claim that their goal is to produce a tasteful beer while giving back to the community and protecting Florida’s natural wonders. They give some of their profits to many environmentally based organizations such as CCA Florida, Surfrider Foundation, The Ocean Foundation, and MOTE Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and Billfish Foundation. Alongside this they claim to produce their edible beer can rings with the byproducts produced from the production of their beer. Overall all of these claims seem to be honest and true, and there seems to be no deception or greenwashing whatsoever on the side of Saltwater Brewery.

Regarding the media coverage of the brewery they all seem to be having a rather positive outlook upon the brewery. These articles help provide some extra information on the product that was not provided on the company’s website. The edible rings are primarily made out of wheat and barley which forms an equally as strong ring compared to the plastic rings, however they do mention that these rings are rather expensive to produce, so the cost of their beers have gone up due to this fact with the company hoping that “customers will be willing to pay a bit extra for the environment.” The company is doing good, but it does seem like some of that good will be reduced due to the fact they won’t be selling as much due to their high cost.

Overall in the end Saltwater Brewery seems to be a genuinely honest company when it comes to their concerns of the environment. Ever since their founding they have been donating to charities to help preserve Florida’s oceans. All throughout their website they have themes of conservation, green, and ocean imagery. All in all the company is honest and genuine when it comes to the topics of conservation and plastics.