Lego and other artful things cast ashore
Lego or Legos? I’d never pondered this question; in fact, I hadn’t thought of it as
an actual question until I read Tracey Williams’ Adrift: The curious tale of the Lego lost at sea (2022, Unicorn Publishing). Among its 184 pages are fascinating facts about the ocean, the iconic plastic building blocks, and many colorful pictures of beachcombing treasures. While I’ve spent many hours at the beach and building with the bricks, I’d never put the two activities together. William’s book has given me new eyes and curiosity to use next time I visit the seashore.
Beachcombing changed for Williams when she began finding pieces of Lego*, many sea-themed, on her walks along the South Devon seashore. A tourist website for this county in southwest England describes their coastline as offering access to hidden coves and award-winning beaches. What it doesn’t say is that back in 1997, their coast became bespeckled with colorful plastic building blocks. The Lego represented a portion of the five million pieces that spilled overboard from the Tokyo Express, a cargo vessel bound from Denmark to North America. One of the 62 containers that washed overboard in 1997 was one packed with an assortment of Lego. These included miniature scuba flippers, spear guns, sharks, octopuses, and much more. News of the trove of Lego bricks washing ashore attracted all manner of beachcombers seeking their own treasures. Beachgoers continues to comb South Devon beaches but to be successful in scoring a Lego requires much patience, diligence, and luck.
The Lego spill that first intrigued Williams sent her on a quest not only to recover the washed ashore toy bricks but also answers to many questions including the types of plastic flotsam that is regularly strewn on shore worldwide and how the forces that affect their distribution. The subtitle of chapter eight ,“A beachcomber’s dream or an environmentalist’s nightmare?”, is an apt description of my thoughts after finishing this highly enjoyable read.
*LEGO is the name of the company and is used when referring to the bricks. Lego is used in the same way the noun sheep is used; it serves as both a singular and plural noun. Another way to describe the plural form is to say, “Lego bricks”.
Stories of castaway plastic
From South Africa to Fiji, stories about plastic on the high seas and along the shore are told in artful ways by all manner of artists. Artists like Blue Gersigny in South Africa who creates wearable art that speaks to the beauty of the man-made substance and Suzanne Turaganiwai in Fiji who uses plastic’s colorful appeal to demonstrate the sheer abundance of what she finds along the beaches in Fiji.
Blue Gersigny lives near the southernmost tip of Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. No matter how pristine the area where she walks appears, Blue aways finds plastic. Sometimes Blue finds so much plastic that she feels overwhelmed. Some of the plastic she selects to work with have acquired texture after being in the ocean for a long time. It is also a reminder of the indestructibleness character of the manmade substance. Blue says that just about anything you can imagine from almost anywhere in the world ends up on the shores where she beachcombs.
Shorelines in the vicinity of shipping lanes amass plastic that is thrown or wash overboard from the vessels that traverse the seas in the area. Blue finds lots of plastic flotsam and jetsam ranging from water bottles and straws and toothbrushes to flip flops. Blue tells their story by making eye-catching necklaces, earrings, and head pieces. It’s her hope that when people see one of her wearable creations, they will understand that it’s made from beach litter. She further hopes people will decide to make changes, even small ones, that reduce their plastic consumption.
Suzanne Turaganiwai lives on the other side of the world. Fiji, a nation in the South Pacific, is made up of a collection of more than 300 islands. Suzanne’s artwork explores the enormity of the plastic problem in her country. Her artwork can be found on her Benu_ni_waitui Instagram page. Benu ni waitui means marine rubbish in the Fijian language. Suzanne uses items like lighters, bottle tops, bucket lids, and toys to create colorful combinations in the hope that triggers an awareness and helps to effect positive change.
Like Lego bricks, another familiar plastic item that washes ashore are flip flops. Three quarters of a million flip flops wash ashore annually in the East African country of Kenya. Poor waste infrastructure in many places is to blame for the flip flops washing into the ocean. Erin Smith sees the flip flop flotsam problem growing along Kenya’s beaches. Her organization Ocean Sole upcycles the flip flops into colorful sculptures of rhinos and giraffes and sea horses, even a full-sized Honda. Plastic leftover from carving the animal sculptures is used locally, turned into mattresses, dog beds, and building blocks. Ocean Sole’s business model turns plastic trash carried from far flung places in the Pacific into saleable items that provide the local Kenyan community with sustainable employment, educational opportunities, and locally needed supplies.
In the United States, Pam Longobardi is a conceptual artist who recognizes that plastic is a global problem. Based at Georgia State University, Pam uses art to call attention to plastic as an important part of marine pollution and climate change. Her Drifters Project follows plastic on its oceanic journey and illustrates how the forces of nature change plastic. She’s traveled to far flung places like Indonesia, Belize, Panama, and Palau to study and collect plastic. Pam’s art is meant to be impactful. The viewer is shown something familiar. In the way it is displayed, Pam’s intent is to create emotional resonance.
Not always artful
The truth is that plastic, no matter how colorful or whimsical is always artful. Plastic has dire impacts for all marine life, people, and Earth’s climate. Ocean plastic can suffocate, drown, entangle or be ingested by marine animals. When marine life ingests plastic, they die of starvation because their stomachs fill with the non-nutritive plastic debris. When adult seabirds feed their young, the plastic results in the starvation of the next generation.
Plastic debris doesn’t only harm the ocean’s wildlife, it affects the human food chain too. Microscopic plastic has been found in various foods and beverages, including water, beer and salt. Plastic pollution isn’t just an ocean issue, it’s a climate and human health issue. Plastic is a petroleum product and, therefore, inextricably linked to the fossil fuel industry. The extraction and transportation of fossil fuels releases carbon into the atmosphere, contributing further to the warming of our planet. Additionally, when plastic waste is incinerated, the process releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
To create a mental picture of just how much plastic ends up in our oceans, imagine a garbage truck the size of New York City depositing its garbage into the ocean every minute of every day for a whole year. If nothing is done to address plastic consumption, and the aftermath, there could be over 250 million metric tons of plastic in our oceans in ten years. Even if you don’t live on a coast, the plastic you throw away can still end up in the ocean.
Not always artful
The truth is that plastic, no matter how colorful or whimsical is always artful. Plastic has dire impacts for all marine life, people, and Earth’s climate. Ocean plastic can suffocate, drown, entangle or be ingested by marine animals. When marine life ingests plastic, they die of starvation because their stomachs fill with the non-nutritive plastic debris. When adult seabirds feed their young, the plastic results in the starvation of the next generation.
Plastic debris doesn’t only harm the ocean’s wildlife, it affects the human food chain too. Microscopic plastic has been found in various foods and beverages, including water, beer and salt. Plastic pollution isn’t just an ocean issue, it’s a climate and human health issue. Plastic is a petroleum product and, therefore, inextricably linked to the fossil fuel industry. The extraction and transportation of fossil fuels releases carbon into the atmosphere, contributing further to the warming of our planet. Additionally, when plastic waste is incinerated, the process releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
To create a mental picture of just how much plastic ends up in our oceans, imagine a garbage truck the size of New York City depositing its garbage into the ocean every minute of every day for a whole year. If nothing is done to address plastic consumption, and the aftermath, there could be over 250 million metric tons of plastic in our oceans in ten years. Even if you don’t live on a coast, the plastic you throw away can still end up in the ocean.
