This Ball of Trash Glows

 

This Ball of Trash Glows

By Elise Dang

When I was at Dockweiler Beach I noticed that most of the trash there was not bits of plastic and Styrofoam from industry, but things like cigarettes, food containers, and beer cans. In fact, when we got the results back for the recorded amount of trash, 60% percent of the trash were things like food and beverage containers and wrappers, cigarettes, cigars, and lighters; all things that people who visit the beach leave behind. The people who leave the trash behind never have any second thoughts about how the trash might affect the environment later on. When trash is left behind on a beach it can harm both humans and wildlife. Eventually the trash will end up it the ocean and make it difficult to swim for both humans and sea life. In addition, the trash will contaminate the water, which will make the sea creatures sick and full of disease. When we eat the fish, the diseases get into our bodies. I’m sure we all agree that we don’t want diseases. In order to change this people need to be more aware of the consequences of carelessly leaving their trash around or the world will eventually become a big ball of filthy trash. But, like Jenny Price said in her article, "Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A.", there is still hope for restoration if we start being more aware now. This is what inspired my art project.

One of the ways Price saw nature in L.A. was as especially dangerous to lose track of. She said that we could go ahead and ignore the health of our environment and watch as our skies darken and our river be filled with trash and toxins. I created a hemisphere covered trash that lights up which was inspired by this message that Price conveyed. The hemisphere covered in trash represents what the Earth may end up like if we do not take action now. Trash I included were cigarettes, cigarette boxes, glass shards and bottle caps from beer bottles, aluminum from beer cans, a lighter, and caution tape. The trash I used has to do with human vices like smoking and drinking. They represent how we are too indulged in our own pleasures instead of caring about the world around us. I added the caution tape to make my art sort of like a warning sign. It is saying, “Warning! This will be the Earth if you are not careful!” Another way Price saw nature in L.A. was as a focus of great work. She states that although our city has the worst air quality in the country many organizations are doing great work to change that. This claim that Price made inspired me to add a sense of hope in my art project, so the light represents our hope for restoration.

I hope my art project will convince people to learn more about the effects of carelessly throwing away of leaving their trash at the beach because it not only affects sea life, but humans as well. In addition, I hope that after learning about the consequences, people will be more careful about where they throw away their trash.