Human Aquarium highlights environmental issues

The Human Aquarium exhibition, which will open on 15 February 2019 in Leeds, England, imagines what life inside a tank must be like while bringing up major environmental issues, such as the effect of single-use plastic on these animal’s natural ocean habitat and why we as humans should care.

The exhibition, developed by Leeds artists, is free and family-friendly. Its goal is to make people think about their actions and the effects they can have on the world’s oceans, which in turn affect the human race. As well as being interactive, the exhibition will also host talks on various environmental topics such as eco-friendly plastic alternatives and how we can make lifestyle changes towards leading more sustainable lives.

 

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The Human Aquarium is a brand new exhibition premiering on 15th February in Leeds… @HumanAquariumUK . . . . . #HumanAquarium #SeaMammals #Exhibition #MerFolk #NaturalHabitat #SingleUsePlastic #aquarium #Leeds #February15 #PlasticRecycling #StJohnShoppingCentre #LeedsCityCentre #SaveTheEnvironment #photography #artworks #installations #film #InteractiveActivities #HumanAquariumTeam

A post shared by Yorkshire Times (@yorkshiretimes) on Jan 15, 2019 at 3:27am PST

The ‘aquarium’ swaps out marine animals for mer-people who stand in as marine mammals.

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One of the most powerful and disturbing pictures I have ever seen. An #albatross bird feeding her baby #plastic. Millions of #birds unknowingly kill their young because of our obsession with #SingleUsePlastic. ⠀ ⠀ This photo is part of the documentary video about the albatross birds that live on one of the remotest islands on this planet. You can watch the full documentary for Free here: https://buff.ly/2sWHywM⠀ ⠀ Please help the developer of this photo and documentary, Albatross by Chris Jordan by sharing his video and donating to his cause: ⠀ https://buff.ly/2W0WZ4E⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #plasticfree #environment #ecofriendly #ocean #noplastic #nature #plasticocean #plasticwaste #sustainable #savetheplanet #sustainability #savetheocean #saveourseas #plasticsucks #saynotoplastic #gogreen #sea

A post shared by iBan Plastic (@ibanplastic) on Jan 17, 2019 at 9:32pm PST

There is a global awareness about how the creation and disposal of plastic can have devastating effects on the environment, playing a role in ocean pollution and acidification. There’s been a huge movement towards banning single-use plastics, as most of these items end up in the ocean and contribute to the suffering of marine life. The smallest decisions we make, such as buying a coffee in a non-reusable cup, can all contribute to the destruction of our oceans.

 

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And now it’s time for our 1st place winner…🥁🥁🥁 —————— 🥇Manta Bay, by Brooke Pyke @wakeupand.dive —————— “For quite a while now I have been spending a lot of time diving east of Bali, Indonesia on a small Island called Nusa Penida. I currently dive very regularly, 2 times a day 6 days a week. There was a dive last year I had at Manta bay (when i took these photos) and the amount of trash was immense. From anything like plastic take away cutlery, to tampons, nappies, laundry liquid packaging… you name it I saw it. I had some guests diving with me at the time and I was actually embarrassed. It’s like taking a good hard look in the mirror and seeing just what we are doing to this planet. Coming up from the dive my guests instantly were looking for someone to blame and asking why is no one doing anything about it. It’s so easy to blame the governments, manufacturers and companies selling these products who of course have some responsibility. I feel we should also start looking more at ourselves and what ways do we contribute to this problem.” . . . #photocontest #mantabay #manta #mantaphoto #plasticpollution #baliindonesia #bali #nusapenida #plasticsoup #singleuseplastic #plasticintheocean #diving #diving_photography

A post shared by Plastic Soup Foundation (@plasticsoupfoundation) on Jan 5, 2019 at 8:48am PST

Recycling is a move in the right direction, but we are often unaware that most of what we put into recycling actually ends up in landfills and can’t in fact be recycled. If you want to make a positive change to the way you dispose of single-use plastics from your home, or to identify which items are single-use, read our article on eco-bricking and see how these bricks are being used to build schools across South Africa.

 

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For the last four months we’ve been making #ecobricks at home. All non recyclable items get stuffed into a plastic bottle until literally no more fits in. You have to keep squishing it down until the bottle actually becomes heavy. I’ve put a link in my bio to how it works. You can then use them as a building blocks to create things. We haven’t got enough yet but watch this space! It means that we don’t really have any rubbish it our general waste anymore. It’s amazing. A bit more effort but completely worth it. #lifebeforeplastik

A post shared by PLASTIC FREE SHOP 🐳🐬🐟🐠 (@lifebeforeplastik) on Aug 1, 2018 at 12:30am PDT

To learn more about the environmentally-aware Human Aquarium exhibition, visit the website here.

Image source: Pixabay

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