Ocean Action: Mar de Plástico

More than 8 million tons of plastic reach annually the ocean, causing very significant negative impacts on marine life, economic activities and human health (accumulation of contaminants in marine food).
Plastic Sea project is part of the Ocean Action Campaign and invested in different communication tools to address and raise awareness of school community and general public about the problem of marine debris, particularly plastic waste in the ocean.
The exhibition “A Plastic Ocean” spread three large sculptures constructed in partnership with ESAP (Artistic School of Oporto) with plastic discarded throughout different public noble spaces of Porto, Matosinhos and Gondomar cities. The sculptures depict different consequences of plastic debris on marine life and human health. An original theatre piece “Pearl in Plastic Sea” was developed to explore the marine litter problem and its consequences for biodiversity and the marine ecosystem by recreating the story of the little mermaid, an adventure fraught with danger due to the ever increasing garbage that reaches the sea.
Plastic Sea project, financed by the EEA Grants, also included more conventional hands-on science activities and lectures in schools, beach cleaning activities and the translation and production of educational videos.
All different communication methods aimed to encourage the critical reflection about this environmental problem of great importance and scientific complexity and the need to adopt environmentally responsible behavior by the population through the use of complementary, artistic and innovative approaches.