This video really grabbed me, it's quite a lovely (and I think rather romantic) video about this seemingly crazy and very creative couple that are collecting tons of plastic from a 1km stretch of beach in California. They aren't cleaning the beach, but they are beautifully highlighting the problem with our throw away society and the often inappropriate use of plastic for 'one use' items, by making sculptures and prints.
Watch out for the bit about the North Pacific Gyre - hideous to think of all that near indestructible plastic swirling around en masse :( The video lasts 8 minutes and is beautifully shot, Richard and Judith are engaging to watch.
One Plastic Beach from High Beam Media on Vimeo.
Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have been collecting plastic debris off one beach in Northern California for over ten years. Each piece of plastic Richard and Judith pick up comes back to their house, where it gets cleaned, categorized and stored before being used for their art. The couple make sculptures, prints, jewelry and installations with the plastic they find washed up, raising a deeper concern with the problem of plastic pollution in our seas.
To learn more about their work, visit:
http://www.beachplastic.com/
http://www.plasticforever.blogspot.com/