Montevideo Hosts Traveling Exhibition Alerting About Marine Pollution

01RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 300 million tons of plastic are produced annually around the world and approximately 8 million tons are released into the seas and oceans. The consequences of this pollution, and some solutions to the problem, are the subjects of the “Out to Sea? The Garbage Project” exhibition launched this week in Montevideo.

For Uruguayan Daniel Toranza, a 40-year-old civil servant, what is most surprising is not the amount of plastic waste shown in the exhibition, but rather the numbers. “What impressed me the most were the numbers. Because we see these (piles of garbage) every day. There are beaches here in Montevideo, close by, where you can see this amount of garbage. We don’t have to travel one kilometer from here. The coast, particularly Montevideo Bay, the open waterways, are full of garbage. But the figures are horrifying,” he said.

Daniel recalls that each year most of the 8 million tons of plastic released into the seas and oceans will end up on the seabed. Some 15 percent float on the surface and another 15 percent are trapped somewhere along the coast. Currently there is not a single square kilometer of seawater that is free of plastic particles.

Approximately 600 billion plastic bags are produced around the world each year, and a European citizen uses an average of 500 a year. Generally, they are used only once, which contrasts sharply with their long shelf life.

It is estimated that by the year 2020 plastic production will have increased by 900 percent in relation to 1980. Approximately 700 marine species, some endangered, are affected by floating plastic waste.

Exhibition

When entering the building where the exhibition is located, the visitor is faced with a mountain of plastic waste, mainly from the Pacific. There are boxes, bottles, cords, balls, barrels, hammocks, bags, tubes, straws and a multitude of other objects.

This plastic mountain is equivalent to the amount of waste dumped into the oceans every ten seconds.

When the Agência Brasil reporter visited the show, there were two school groups, with students between 10 and 12 years old on a guided tour.

While the monitor explained that each person generates approximately 35 kilograms of plastic waste per year and that in some European countries this figure reaches 90 kilograms, the students reacted with astonishment. “Each of us? Impressive!,” exclaimed a girl, attentive to the explanations.

At that moment, the teacher escorting the group mentioned the amount of garbage that can be generated, for instance, at a birthday party, among balloons, plates, bottles and disposable glasses. The monitor agreed and recalled that straws are already banned in many cities. “We can avoid the straws, we don’t need them to have a juice or soft drink, right?”, she asked.

The teacher spoke again, telling the students about an initiative by the Architecture Faculty of Montevideo, which manufactures ‘eco-bricks’. Eco-bricks are a kind of “brick” made from 6-liter bottles of water, filled with compacted plastic and reused in some buildings.

The students walked through the exhibition, which includes a session that teaches them how to sort waste at home, how and where to dispose of it, and what happens after the garbage truck collects it.

A large section of the exhibition is also focused on showing the impact of plastic waste on animals and humans. As common plastic is not biodegradable, it ends up breaking into small pieces that are ingested by plankton, birds or fish and will end up on our plates, posing serious consequences for human health.

Nets and fishing lines are also deadly traps for sea creatures. Fish, marine mammals and turtles become entangled and die of suffocation or starvation. These nets, which generally form large masses, also pose a serious danger to navigation.

Another section presents solutions for waste retrieval, reuse, reduction, and recycling.

The exhibition is free of charge and is located at the Casa Central del Banco República, in the Ciudad Vieja neighborhood, in the center of Montevideo. Produced by the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, the traveling exhibition, which is in Uruguay until October 18th, can be seen for the first time in South America.

Source: Agência Brasil

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