5 things you can do to protect our oceans
by Cyrill Gutsch

What challenges and benefits are there in upcycling plastic for use in fashion and design objects?

Using marine debris as a raw material has its challenges. Ocean Plastic® is created from upcycled plastic waste intercepted by Parley from remote islands, shorelines, waters and in coastal communities. Before it can be used, the plastic must be sorted, cleaned and broken down into small, uniform pieces, then it’s transformed into pellets that can be melted into various shapes. But this process is time consuming and a lot more expensive than using virgin plastic.

The future, however, involves developing new materials to replace plastic that are compatible with a circular economy. We have been researching the possibilities of green chemistry [which reduces or eliminates the use or creation of hazardous substances] and biofabrication. I think the future is where the material serves a purpose until it’s not needed any more. Then it falls back [into nature] and has a positive, not a negative, impact on the environment.

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What are the main challenges in avoiding single-use plastic?

Plastic, as it exists today, is a design failure, most likely caused by a lack of imagination. You can never get rid of something that doesn’t biodegrade; you can only displace it. It can be overwhelming, but we believe that there is opportunity in every failure. If we can narrow our focus to one issue, solutions for the rest will follow. In the short term, our primary objective is to counter the threats of marine plastic pollution through collaborative projects and a long-term strategy – Parley AIR, which has mobilised a global audience and showcased the role everyone can play in being a part of the solution. The acronym stands for: Avoid plastic where possible, Intercept plastic waste and Redesign the material itself. The scheme aims to tackle all aspects of the plastic problem through a number of different initiatives.

Tell us a bit about your Underwater Pavilions project with Doug Aitken – what was the aim of the project?

The concept for the Underwater Pavilions with artist and filmmaker Doug Aitken came about quite naturally. Doug grew up in southern California, near the ocean. He had the idea to create a sculpture that functioned “like a door underneath the surface of the ocean”. The work consists of three temporary underwater sculptures that allowed swimmers, snorkelers and scuba divers to swim through and experience them. The sculptures have a moon-like surface on the exterior and the interior has mirrors – it looks like a giant kaleidoscope and it created a living presence and unique relationship with the viewer at different depths. Both aesthetic and scientific, Underwater Pavilions puts the local marine environment and the global challenges around ocean conversation in dialogue with the history of art, inviting the viewer to write a contemporary narrative of the ocean and to participate in its protection.

And what place does art have in driving the sustainability conversation?

The artist is at the core of the Parley movement. Art can communicate in a direct way and make a very powerful statement, or even become a symbol for a cause. Art provides a way to share this beauty in a way that awakens people to the reality of the situation. It creates a societal mirror. Once we understand what plastic is doing to our oceans, to all of us, we start demanding alternatives. The vision of artists and creatives precedes the action for change.

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