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Water Dreaming with Jill Chism (ABC Open)

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Water Dreaming with Jill Chism (ABC Open)

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ABC OPEN: Water Dreaming with Jill Chism || From Project: Water Is...

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Jill Chism creates environmental and public artwork in and around the North Coast of Queensland. Her works examine the human footprint on the environment and question how we interact with the cosmos.

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A Giant Beached Whale Illustrates the Plastic Pollution Problem

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A Giant Beached Whale Illustrates the Plastic Pollution Problem

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Plastic is a material made to last forever, yet 33 percent of all plastic, such as single-use water bottles, bags, and straws, are used just once and thrown away. Over 260 species, including invertebrates, turtles, fish, seabirds, and mammals, have been reported to ingest or become entangled in plastic debris, resulting in impaired movement and feeding, reduced reproductive output, lacerations, ulcers, and death.
Take the pledge to refuse single-use plastic. Read the facts about plastic pollution. Join our global Coalition.

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A Giant Beached Whale Illustrates the Plastic Pollution Problem

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Plastic is a material made to last forever, yet 33 percent of all plastic, such as single-use water bottles, bags, and straws, are used just once and thrown away. Over 260 species, including invertebrates, turtles, fish, seabirds, and mammals, have been reported to ingest or become entangled in plastic debris, resulting in impaired movement and feeding, reduced reproductive output, lacerations, ulcers, and death.

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3 Ways to Bring together Drama, Dance, and the Visual Arts

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Immerse yourself if the Wearable Art experience! Two full-length productions at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre promise to delight audiences, incorporating a sense of play, musicality and theatricality, while presenting spectacular wearable art from our WAM finalists.

When: Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June, 2019
Tickets available for purchase from March, 2019

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2019 Competition | Wearable Art Mandurah

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Immerse yourself if the Wearable Art experience! Two full-length productions at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre promise to delight audiences, incorporating a sense of play, musicality and theatricality, while presenting spectacular wearable art from our WAM finalists.

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Wearable Art Townsville - Wearable Art Townsville

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ARTSPACE Mackay's Fashion Flaunt will open four fashion exhibitions on Saturday night.

A collection of a century of international photography from the Conde Nast fashion archives allows visitors to delve into the world's most famous Vogue and Vanity Fair fashion photographers' works from 1911 to 2011.

A Milliner's Tale by milliner and fashion designer Brenda Lui exhibits three collections of racing head wear.

Hairdresser and salon owner Shane Gibbs exhibits sculptural wigs and costumes titled 'Humanics' pushing the boundaries between hairdressing and art.

Fashion design student Bethany Cordwell shows her latest styles of her 'Hypnotic Gaze' collection that she created as part of her studies.

Vintage pieces sit alongside current trends as well as head wear designed with Ms Lui's personal forecast of future trends. She said current trends are crowns, halos and turbans.

Brenda Lui has been designing millinery for 10 years and said it was a natural progression for her from fashion design.

Being on maternity leave and having young children she said millinery was perfect as a project to pick up and put down quickly.

She began studying under professional milliners and progressed her trade.

Ms Lui could not imagine being anything else than a fashion designer. "I was making dress up clothes from a young age," she said.
A show about self-obsession
SHANE Gibbs is a living example of the job being what you make it. Inspired by international hairdressing competitions, he takes the concept of 'over the top' designs to the general public. "A lot of the show is about self-obsession and the taking-selfies and over-the-top-fake Instagram world and life," he said. Being a hairdresser means he is part of that world though, and he said he was having a dig at how materialistic life is. Most of his artistic work is created in the early hours of a morning. In order to complete the exhibition in six weeks he slept only 20 hours per week. "I would go to bed at 4am and get up at 7am," the salon owner said. "I find creatively, the more tired I am, the better I am. You don't stop and think. It just flows and your mind shifts when you are sleep deprived." In his 'normal' life when he is not working on competitions or an exhibition Mr Gibbs enjoys boating and camping.
Student has designs on meaningful fashion
FASHION design student Bethany Cordwell will show pieces of 'Hypnotic Gaze', a collection she designed as part of her coursework.

The pieces are both fashion and art, which Ms Cordwell tries to merge.

"They are costume fashion and structural pieces that have a deeper meaning than just being clothes for different seasons," she said. "To me they are art that you wear. I love to research and find different ideas and people's stories, or use my own story. As you grow up, coming out of school, you are out of this safe space and try to figure out who you are and what makes you 'you' and how you are different to other people."

Ms Cordwell said she was focused on the stages of hypnosis for the collection. Three pieces in succession depict the stages of hypnosis, of being drawn into the collection. The final piece is a rainbow canvas dress made from 10 metres of canvas double-sided, painted and hand-cut.

"I probably worked on it for a month solid," she said.

Creativity runs in Ms Cordwell's blood.
FASHION FLAUNT
When: July 29 - October 12

Where: Artspace Mackay

What: Coming into Fashion: A century of photography at Condé Nast. A milliner's tale: Brenda Lui. Humanics: Shane Gibbs. Emerging designer: Bethany Cordwell.

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ARTSPACE Mackay's Fashion Flaunt will open four fashion exhibitions on Saturday night. A collection of a century of international photography from the Conde Nast fashion archives allows visitors to delve into the world's most famous Vogue and Vanity Fair fashion photographers' works from 1911 to 2011.

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Jill Chism - "Water's Edge

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Jill Chism > Environmental Art > Waters Edge 08-09

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Jill Chism Environmental Art > Waters Edge 08-09

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NORMALLY we send postcards from exotic destinations while on holiday but 90 Mackay and Queensland artists will paint what matters to them on miniature canvases for a special exhibition for Artspace Mackay.

The postcard canvases will feature in an exhibition entitled Subject Matters: Postcard Exhibition, which would be launched on October 30 and run until December 13. The exhibition will raise money for the Artspace Foundation.

A separate, independent and legal non-profit organisation was created to ensure that the arts would continue to be an integral part of life in the Mackay community.

Artspace Foundation executive officer Melissa Broadhurst said the money will be raised from the sale and auction of the postcard creations on the night of the launch.

"I love the fact that about 100 Mackay and Queensland artists' work will be exhibited at Artspace Mackay.

"And that the work will be on small canvases - it will bring community spirit to the event."

She said the exhibition would give emerging artists the chance to have their work hung in a gallery.

At present a number of exhibitions at Artspace Mackay explore a variety of genres and art mediums.

They include Recycled Library: Altered Books, which was curated by Artspace Mackay director Michael Wardell and will go on tour later this year, thanks to his successful $87,000 grant application to Visions of Australia and the Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy.

This is highly-sought-after Federal funding that aims to encourage wider audience access to Australian visual arts and craft through quality publications, education and public programs that are a part of touring exhibitions.

Other exhibitions that start on October 30 and run until December 13 include Water's Edge: Creating Environments, which is an environmental art project by Cairns-based artist Jill Chism, and Trace: Recent Work by Glen Skien.

Mr Wardell said these three concurrent exhibitions would feature many of our local artists, which is always extremely popular with visitors to Artspace Mackay.

"Three renowned Mackay artists contributed to Jill Chism's Waters' Edge project, Glen Skien is one of Mackay's most revered contemporary artists, and a very large number of local artists feature in our postcard exhibition." he said.

Exhibitions at Artspace

*  Recycled Library: Altered Books - until October 25

*  Mangrove: Recent works by Irene Coburn - until October 25

*  Waters'Edge: Creating Environments - October 30 to December 13 This exhibition draws attention to water as a vital substance for life. The exhibition features photographs of environmental artworks. The exhibition includes installations from three Mackay artists, Tracey Heathwood, Ashley Holmes and Ngaio Lenz.

*  Trace: Recent works by Glen Skien October 30 to December 13. Trace explores the potential of object, image and surface to retain a sense of the extended flow of experience and gestures of memory.

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NORMALLY we send postcards from exotic destinations while on holiday but 90 Mackay and Queensland artists will paint what matters to them on miniature canvases for a special exhibition for Artspace Mackay. The postcard canvases will feature in an exhibition entitled Subject Matters: Postcard Exhibition, which would be launched on October 30 and run until December 13.

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Glen Skien - "MYTHO-POETIC" Educational Resource

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Glen Skien (local artist) - "Bird in Hand"

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Glen Skien (local artist) - "Bird in Hand"

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by Penny Peckham Brisbane-based artist, Glen Skien trained in Townsville as a printmaker, but his oeuvre includes much work that falls well outside the realm of the pristine editioned print.

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Australia's premier body art event, the Australian Body Art Festival is free for spectators and attracts great crowds keen to watch artists at work using human bodies as their canvas.

The body art at this event is amazing with brush and sponge, airbrush and special effects full body art as well as some of the most intricate face painting you will ever see. There is so much more to see also with wearable art (funky fashions from recycled items), photography, street performers, market stalls, music and parades each day with finished artworks.

The theme for the 2019 event is "Other Worlds" which will provide a wealth of inspiration for artists. Come along as a competitor or a spectator - you'll be amazed!

Located in the beautiful Noosa Hinterland town of Cooroy, it will be worth your while staying for the weekend or even a week to check out all that the region has to offer!

Event Venues

Corner Marara and Maple Street

Queensland, Australia 4563

Other Information

Accessibility:

Accessible facilities available. Please contact operator for specific details.

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australian body art festival event festivals and celebrations  cooroy mill place

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Australian Body Art Festival - Event - Queensland

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Australia's premier body art event, the Australian Body Art Festival is free for spectators and attracts great crowds keen to watch artists at work using human bodies as their canvas. The body art at this event is amazing with brush and sponge, airbrush and special effects full body art as well as some of the most intricate face painting you will ever see.

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13th August 2016 - Wearable art - Whitsunday students model wearable art for Reef Festival 2016.

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Fashion on Show - Mackay Show - Wearable Art Category

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Fashion on Show - Mackay Show - Wearable Art Category

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Fashion on Show was a spectacle in 2018

Fashion on Show in 2018 commenced on Tuesday morning with a fashion parade showcasing the fashion of Hustle & Flo and HB Boutique. Such an amazing display of colour from the recycled look to the modern day fashion. Music was enjoyed once again by the talented Kat Campbell who can set a lovely scene in a room.

Tuesday night we stepped into the 500 pavilion to enjoy the Magpies Crusaders Celebrity Fashion Parade. Young model and personality Georgia Knoll once again took to the catwalk and stole the show. Our local radio announcer Rob Kidd introduced our personalities and was fun and entertaining. The Magpies Crusaders stars looked right at home modelling on the night and was great to see them support our event. Our other personalities John Glanville and Allaiyah Warren also showed us their style modelling clothes from local stores.

Wednesday morning saw some more fashion on parade modelled by the amazing models from Brooke Lee Modelling. This parade showed clothing from Lorna Jane, Forever New and Best and Less. It was a fun morning with Music played by Allaiyah Warren.

The Wearable Art competition on Wednesday evening showcased Fashion Illustrations, Wearable Art, Original Textiles, Recycled Materials and Masks designed and were modelled by local school students. The winners of the competition are announced in the sidebar. A huge thank you to Ash White from Ash White design on giving up her time to judge this great event.

The feature event of the Mackay Show was a special VIP function on Thursday morning which included pre-event champagne and canapés followed by a parade of ethical fashion by the very talented Ash White. This morning saw a display of Ash's new range now available from her website.

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Fashion on Show in 2018 commenced on Tuesday morning with a fashion parade showcasing the fashion of Hustle & Flo and HB Boutique. Such an amazing display of colour from the recycled look to the modern day fashion. Music was enjoyed once again by the talented Kat Campbell who can set a lovely scene in a room.

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eARTh e-mag - Issue 3 "Eco-Fashion Rising"

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eARTh e-mag - Issue 3 "Eco-Fashion Rising"

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eARTh emag Issue 3 Eco-Fashion Rising February 2014

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This February issue sees us 'frock up' in the name of eco-fashion and design. Woven materials sourced directly from mother earth also feature in articles on the monumental, predominantly bamboo, installations of Wang Wen-Chih (Taiwan) and millinery by the Austrian, now Australian-based, Waltraud Reiner.

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eARTh e-mag - Issue 6 "What lies beneath?"

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eARTh e-mag - Issue 6 "What lies beneath?"

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eARTh e-mag is a global online magazine presenting cutting edge eARTh inspired art from all corners of the world

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PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News

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Connecting People through News. All-you-can-read digital newsstand with thousands of the world's most popular newspapers and magazines. Vast selection of top stories in full-content format available for free.

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"Wasted Beauty" - exhibition with Mackay Botanic Gardens

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"Wasted Beauty" - exhibition with Mackay Botanic Gardens

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Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens - Wasted Beauty - A eclectic exhibition curated by Lalune Croker

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A diverse group of talented local artists and creators contributed to this eclectic exhibition... Stewart Alexander, Steve Brown, Jeudi Croker, Lalune Croker, Melissa Larsen, Cheb Jeffery, Anneke Meeder, Soetkin Pauwels, Tracey Robb, Lisa Roebig Holmes, Leah Tranter and Joanne Wood.

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Welcome

This is the site for Bimblebox Nature Refuge, an 8,000 hectare property in the Desert Uplands Bioregion of Central West Queensland, in the south Galilee Basin. For more information about the refuge, its ecology, its wildlife and its history, click the relevant tabs above. On this page, we post regular updates on the campaign to prevent Bimblebox Nature Refuge from being destroyed by a proposed massive thermal coal project, as well as updates on "life at the refuge" as we work to maintain the property's conservation values, year in and year out through summer heat, drought, extreme fire risk, flooding rains, isolation... etc! To join our mailing list (we send less than one email per month) click here. Find out how you can help protect Bimblebox from coal mining.
The Bimblebox Alliance Inc. (TBA) was formed in 2014 to bring together individuals and organisations who wish to protect high conservation areas from mining and other threats. Please go to Nature Refuges page to become a member of The Bimblebox Alliance Inc (TBA).
NEW: This 5 minute show depicts the history and the possible dire future of Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Our thanks to Tangible Media, Bob Brown, Sonya Duus, Mark Doyle and Karl Hoch. Please click on "HD" in the lower right-hand corner to ensure maximum colour and sound quality.

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This is the site for Bimblebox Nature Refuge, an 8,000 hectare property in the Desert Uplands Bioregion of Central West Queensland, in the south Galilee Basin. For more information about the refuge, its ecology, its wildlife and its history, click the relevant tabs above.

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It was another successful installation and opening of the 'Bimblebox: art - science - nature' exhibition in Mackay last week. Artspace is a beautiful gallery and the crew were great to work with. There was a crowd of about 70-80 people at the opening with lots of great conversation - which unfortunately meant I forgot to take lots of photos. But here are a few.

It was also great to make contact with the Mackay Conservation Group who have been such hard working campaigners in the effort to prevent coal mining in the Galilee Basin. Thanks so much Mackay for your bravery in joining in the conversation about coal and fossil fuels, the natural environment and biodiversity, and the dreams for a more sustainable future.

Beth Jackson

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'Bimblebox: art - science - nature' exhibition at Artspace Mackay

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It was another successful installation and opening of the 'Bimblebox: art - science - nature' exhibition in Mackay last week. Artspace is a beautiful gallery and the crew were great to work with. There was a crowd of about 70-80 people at the opening with lots of great conversation - which unfortunately meant I forgot...

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The arrival of the waders is one of the most anticipated events for Mackay's bird and nature lovers!

Waders include species such as oystercatchers, curlews, dotterels and sand plovers. These little shorebirds follow the warmer weather by migrating annually between Australia and countries as far away as Siberia, China and Japan! After their incredible journey to Mackay, these birds spend the next 6 months (Oct - Mar) on our coasts, resting and feeding.

To welcome the waders, we are excited to be holding a Beautiful Walk at Shellgrit Creek on Sunday 21 October. Joining us will be BirdLife Mackay to help with bird identification and talk to us about their behavior and migration paths.
Join us for this opportunity to see the waders up close, get outdoors and enjoy it with other like-minded people! Bookings are essential to secure your spot!
Sunday 21 October, 8:30am - 10:30am

Contact:
Emma Barrett · emma@mackayconservationgroup.org.au · 0437742747

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Adani has repeatedly claimed it did nothing wrong in relation its management of Abbot Point coal terminal during Cyclone Debbie. The reality is that Adani did cause pollution. Here are the facts:
Temporary Emissions Licence

On 28 April 2017, the Department of Environment & Science (formerly Dept of Environment & Heritage Protection - DEHP) issued Adani with a retrospectively amended Temporary Emissions Licence for the company's coal terminal at Abbot Point.

The licence permitted Adani to increase the concentration of contaminants flowing into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and the Caley Valley wetlands from the 30 milligrams per litre (mg/L) to 100mg/L.

Exceedance of TEL

After the cyclone Adani reported to the Queensland Government that the concentration of contaminants measured in water samples collected at the location that flowed into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (known as W2) was 806mg/L. Those samples were collected using an automated process. The concentration of contaminants exceeded the temporarily permitted limit by more than 800%.

At the other authorised location (called W1), which flowed into the Caley Valley Wetlands, samples were collected after staff returned to the site following the cyclone. At the time of collection the concentration was 80mg/L which was below the temporary limit. However, there were no samples collected during the event so nobody knows whether the limit was exceeded at any time while the licence was in operation.

Government fine

On 3 May 2017 the head of Queensland's Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Jim Reeves, said that Adani could face a penalty of $3.8 million for a wilful breach of its licence. However, on 20 July DEHP issued Adani with a $12,190 fine for the breach. On 24 August the ABC reported that Adani had informed DEHP that it would contest the fine. The government has until 7 September 2018 to decide whether to take the matter to court.

Wetlands

Public awareness of the coal spill followed aerial photographs taken after Cyclone Debbie indicating a significant flow of coal from stockpiles at the port into Caley Valley wetlands through release point W1. A July 2017 report by the Queensland government reports on a scientific assessment of the wetlands post Cyclone Debbie. Soil samples collected by the Queensland government were analysed by two companies, Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) and UQ Materials Performance (UQMP).

ALS analysed the samples using Australian Standards AS2856 Part 1 & 2 and found that coal made up 26.8% of the samples taken from Caley Valley shore and 15.4% of the samples from Caley Valley wetlands. The report says that these represent "quite a significant volume of coal".

UQMP used an in-house analysis method and found that the samples contained 10% and 2% coal just near location W2 and trace contamination across the wetlands.

In Adani's 27 August 2018 statement the company quotes a Queensland government report that says there is little visual evidence of coal fines across the entire wetland.

Mackay Conservation Group visited the Caley Valley wetlands on 27 & 28 April 2017 following an invitation from Queensland's environment minister. We had been told that we would be able to collect soil samples at the site but on arrival people representing Adani told us we could not collect any samples or photographs. During our visit we observed significant coverage of coal fines in the parts of the wetland we were permitted to visit. The Queensland Government photo above shows significant coal contamination in the soil sample taken in the Caley Valley wetlands. More photos from the site inspection can be found here.

Adani has been required by the Queensland Government to undertake an environmental evaluation into the causes and impacts of the coal spill into the Caley Valley wetlands. Adani has appealed this requirement and the case will be heard in October 2018.

For a more extensive background document on this issue see this article on our website.

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Media Release: Crocodiles less threatening to human life than bees
Conservationists will today call on a Queensland parliamentary committee to reject legislation that would reintroduce mass slaughter of wild crocodiles in the state.

The Queensland Parliament's Innovation, Tourism Development and Environment Committee will hold public hearings on the Safer Waterways Bill at Mackay today.

Mackay Conservation Group coordinator, Peter McCallum, said that crocodiles do pose a threat to human life but the risk has been overblown.

Last year, Bob Katter, a federal MP, claimed that a person was killed by a crocodile every three months in North Queensland.

Conservationists have disputed that claim.

"Since 1985 there have been 11 fatal crocodile attacks in Queensland. That's about one every three years," Mr McCallum said.

"By comparison one Australian dies from complications of bee sting every six months."

"It's easy to drum up fear, even when the threat is minimal."

"Mackay Conservation Group will be calling on the committee to reject fearmongering and rely on the clear scientific evidence when making its recommendation on the proposed law."

From the 1940s to 1970s crocodiles were killed in large numbers, mostly by hunters hoping to cash in on high international prices for crocodile skin.

Saltwater crocodiles were pushed towards extinction in Australia until Queensland reluctantly enacted legislation to ban wild crocodile killing in 1974.

As late as 1988, saltwater crocodiles were listed as endangered.

Since then crocodile numbers have recovered to the point that they are no longer considered vulnerable to extinction.

On average 8 Queenslanders die each year in boating accidents.

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We're excited to invite you to our next Beautiful Walk at the Lex Creek Nature Refuge on Sunday 16th September, in the spectacular Eungella region! We will be taken for a private tour of the property by the owner Colin Creighton, who was awarded an Australian Medal for his innovative work in environmental science and sustainable agriculture. The majority of Colin's property is rainforest, which rolls down to Broken River - a popular site to spot the elusive platypus.
Join us on this special Beautiful Walk, as we walk through rainforest and farmland, spot wildlife and learn how agriculture and environmental conservation can coexist! Bookings are essential to secure your spot!
In addition to conserving rainforest on his land, Colin practices sustainable grazing, where livestock are crash grazed and fenced off from waterways which lead into the Great Barrier Reef. His property also includes a plantation of native Hoop Pine, garlic crops and partially supports two share farmers and their families.

Sunday 16 September, 10am - 2pm

Contact:
Emma Barrett · emma@mackayconservationgroup.org.au · 0437742747
Qld govt fails to prosecute Adani for breaking law, polluting Reef waters Adani tries to block documents showing it knew pollution would occur Previously secret documents show Adani and the Qld Department of the Environment knew that water, containing high concentrations of coal pollutants, would be released from Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal into Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area waters during Cyclone Debbie, in breach of even the special licence to pollute that was issued to Adani at the time.
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Despite a clear breach of Adani's license to pollute, it is now 16 months since Cyclone Debbie and the Queensland government has as yet failed to launch prosecution proceedings after Adani challenged its $12,190 fine.

In a lengthy process, Adani sought to block Mackay Conservation Group's right to information request. A backgrounder, with links to the documents and the Information Commissioner's judgment, can be found .

Coordinator of the Mackay Conservation Group, Mr Peter McCallum said, " This proves once again that Adani can't be trusted and sees itself as above the law. Adani mustn't get off scot-free. The Queensland government must launch a prosecution in the next few weeks otherwise the time will expire.

"Adani has challenged their measly $12,190 fine , despite admitting to intentionally breaching its pollution licence by more than 800 per cent and allegedly submitting an altered laboratory report .

"The company is also in court appealing an order that it examine pollution of the Abbot Point Caley Valley wetlands and consider a new water management strategy, in an attempt to bully the Government into a cheaper, less effective investigation.

"North Queenslanders don't want a mining company which thumbs its nose at regulation designed to protect our precious environment.

"Just last week Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said Queensland has some of the strictest environmental measures in world which Adani is subject to.

"It's now up to Minister Enoch to show Queenslanders that she will enforce these environmental laws and do no more special favours for Adani.

"The secret documents show Adani knew that the concentration of contaminants that flowed into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef was likely to be in the range of 500 to 900mg/L, well above the 100 mg/L allowed by even its temporary license to pollute issued during the storm.

"The port where Adani operates is frequently subject to severe weather. Over the past five decades, 23 tropical cyclones have passed within 100km of the site.

"Considering Adani is seeking approval to increase the amount of coal that goes through its port by 10 million tonnes a year , the Queensland government must require Adani clean up its act and stormproof the terminal to prevent future pollution.

"The public should be confident that the Queensland Government is committed to ensuring Adani causes no more harm to the Great Barrier Reef, our state's unique wildlife, our precious water or the cultural heritage values of the indigenous community," Mr McCallum said.

Contact: Peter McCallum 0402 966 560 for comment.

A Right To Information request by Mackay Conservation Group (MCG) has resulted in the release of previously secret documents which reveal that both Adani and the Queensland Government were well aware that water, containing high concentrations of pollutants, could be released from Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area during Cyclone Debbie, in breach of even the special licence to pollute that the Department of Environment issued at the time.

After the cyclone Adani admitted to breaching its Temporary Emissions Licence (TEL) by more than 800% of the amount of coal polluted water allowed to be released into the Reef coast. Adani subsequently spent a year attempting to block the release of documents that would reveal what the company knew about the concentration of pollutants that could flow into the environment. In agreeing to release the information, the Right to Information Commissioner criticised Adani's arguments for blocking the documents as "too speculative or conjectural to form a reasonably based expectation" that it could prejudice an ongoing investigation into a possible contravention of the TEL.

Despite a clear breach of Adani's licence to pollute, it is now sixteen months since the cyclone and it appears that the Queensland government has failed to yet launch proceedings to prosecute Adani for unlawfully releasing coal polluted water into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The latest advice from the Department is that it has until 7 September 2018 to launch a prosecution.

Meanwhile Adani is:

challenging the Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) of $12,190 for the breach and, as part of proceedings, was alleged to have submitted an altered laboratory report about the concentration of contaminants released to the marine environment;

appealing the Queensland Environment Department's decision to require that they carry out an environmental investigation as a result of the discharge during the cyclone into the Caley Valley Wetlands at Abbot Point, to look at causes and impacts

seeking approval from the Queensland government to increase the amount of coal that goes through its Abbot Point Port by 10 million tonnes per annum, yet failing to ensure its terminal is more storm proof and likely to pollute.

This month's guest speaker is Pierre Craven, Head of Science at Mackay Christian College, who has been directing the school's senior students in their new mangrove research program.
The previously secret documents, released under RTI are here . The judgment by the Queensland Information Commission is here .

An extensive blog on the pollution incident at Abbot Point, and how events unfolded, has been prepared by the Queensland Environmental Defenders Office and can be found here .

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Tuesday 21 August, 6:30 - 8:30pm Environment Centre, 156 Wood St.

Our monthly meetings are great opportunities for members, volunteers and curious others to catch up and hear about MCG's work and upcoming events.

The innovative project involves students using real-life techniques to study the carbon storage potential and biomass of mangroves in the Pioneer River.

The data collected will be sent and used by renowned mangrove ecologist, Dr Norman Duke from James Cook University, who is also the project's scientific mentor.

Can the mangroves of Mackay help fight climate change? Come along and find out!

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Tuesday 17 July, 6:30 - 8:30pm Mackay Environment Centre, 156 Wood St
Widespread tree clearing and habitat loss has resulted in a serious decline in koala numbers in south-east Queensland.

Now that there have been changes to Queensland's tree-clearing laws, what will be the impacts to koala habitat in the Mackay region?

Adam Gilmour, the senior natural resource officer from DNRME will join us at our next meeting, where he will explain how the new laws work and how they will impact conservation efforts.

Also joining us will be Mark Thomas from the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) unit, who will give a presentation on the importance and benefits of Queensland Globe - an online tool that can be used to discover a trove of information and data!

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A huge crowd marched through the main street of Mackay in the Walk for Water. Our government needs to listen to Queenslanders, and rule out wasting our water on Adani's mega-mine.

With over half of Queensland drought declared, we cannot afford to give billions of litres of water to Adani. Sign the petition to protect Qld's water now, and make sure you come along to the Stop Adani meetings on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.
Where: Blacks Beach Meet: End of Pacific Drive Time: Sunday 24 June, 3pm - 5pm
You can read more about the predicted impacts to water that the Adani mine will have here.
To secure your place for the Beautiful Walk, RSVP by clicking here.
Check out more of the great photos...

Our next Beautiful Walk will be at Blacks Beach Reserve. Come along for a Sunday afternoon stroll through the tranquil trail to the beach. Along the way, we will walk through a diverse range of habitats such as woodland, mangrove and coastal ecosystems. Each of these habitats support a fascinating range of plants and animals.

Joining us will be guest speakers who will talk about the value of mangroves and the importance of Blacks Beach for a number of native animals, including some unusual ant species!

The Beautiful Walks program has been running for 4 years and is the Mackay Conservation Group's most popular event. The walks are held in natural locations around Mackay and highlight the environmental beauty of the region. The event is held monthly, open to the public and free to attend.

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The arrival of the waders is one of the most anticipated events for Mackay's bird and nature lovers! Waders include species such as oystercatchers, curlews, dotterels and sand plovers. These little shorebirds follow the warmer weather by migrating annually between Australia and countries as far away as Siberia, China and Japan!

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Browse the latest articles, photo galleries and videos relating to Clean Up Australia Day

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Indigenous Rangers - Tangaroa Blue Foundation

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Tangaroa Blue Foundation is an Australian registered charity focused on the health of our marine environment, and coordinates the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, an on-ground network of volunteers, communities, organisations and agencies around the country monitoring the impacts of marine debris along their stretch of coastline.

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Scoping the Problem - GhostNets Australia

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Where are the hotspots? what are the impacts? where do the nets come from?.

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Ghostly art, made from debris that menaces marine life

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Ghostly art, made from debris that menaces marine life

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Garom, a sculpture made from discarded "ghost nets" in the Torres Strait. Australian Museum/Supplied

With more than half a million people participating in last Sunday's Clean Up Australia Day, it's perhaps not surprising that some odd objects came to light. Not all the rubbish was on land, and not all the rubbish was what you might normally expect to find in the water.

In New South Wales, divers in the Hastings River removed shopping trolleys, mobile phones and a scooter, while Tasmania's Derwent River yielded bicycles, car batteries and even furniture. It's a reminder that individual actions can have dramatic impacts underwater, especially when we normally have no way of seeing it.

Nobody knows that better than the indigenous people who live on the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait, the parts of Australia most affected by drifting ghost nets. Lost or abandoned from fishing vessels, ghost nets can be up to 6 kilometres long and are known to kill more than 200 species of marine animals and birds. They also damage culturally and biologically significant reefs, and can be hazardous to the small boats typically used by indigenous people.

Ghost Nets Australia/Supplied

In their own year-round versions of Clean Up Australia Day, Indigenous Ranger and Caring for Country groups maintain a constant lookout on our northern coastlines, patrolling the beaches and removing the dangerous nets. Recently, indigenous artists have joined the fight against ghost nets, experimenting with how to turn these waste items into beautiful sculptures.

A tale of two creatures

An example of such an object is Dauma and Garom, a 6-metre ghost net sculpture by Torres Strait artists at the Erub Erwer Meta Arts Centre, on Darnley Island in the eastern Torres Strait. Commissioned by the Australian Museum in 2013, Dauma and Garom can now be seen in the Museum's Indigenous Gallery.

The work tells the story of two creatures who live on nearby Sekemed Reef: Dauma the mudcrab, and Garom the rock cod. The two creatures spend so much time gazing at each other in the shallow pool that they fall in love and get married. The wedding is attended by all the other animals, who travel to the event as a "dancing fleet" led by the "boss dancer", the cockroach.

Erub Erwer Meta Art Centre/Supplied

The gentle story, and the vibrant, almost playful nature of the work belies its deadly origin as wasted fishing nets. Artist Maryann Bourne, one of the creators of Dauma and Garom, said "the reason we use it is because the ghost nets destroy marine life".

The first element of the artist's strategy is to increase the incentive to remove ghost nets from the water by making them into a saleable commodity (they were previously dumped or burned when retrieved).

The second aim is to raise awareness, through art, of ghost nets as an environmental issue.

Awash with debris

This artist-driven environmental activism is hopefully a step towards solving the much wider global problem of marine plastics. Some pieces of plastic debris can last for centuries and travel huge distances in the ocean. But whereas most plastic quickly decays into micropellets, which cause their own problems for marine ecosystems, the fishing nets are made to last.

In far north Queensland it seems that the problem is not the locally based fishing industry, which has successfully reduced the loss of nets at sea in recent years. Instead, many of the nets are thought to come from illegal or unregulated fishing more than 1000 kilometres away in the Arafura Sea.

A 2013 report documented 6,670 nets collected from 2,705km of coastline between 2010 and 2012. Of the 364 animals found entangled in the nets, some 70% were endangered turtles, although this figure is likely to be an underestimate of the true problem as it includes only those animals that were carried all the way to shore and then found by rangers.

The nets retrieved from our beaches are merely the tip of the iceberg. As the Torres Strait's prevailing currents run from east to west, most of the ghost nets can be expected to float into the Indian Ocean, where they will ultimately join one of the world's giant floating garbage patches. But it can take years for ghost nets to move out of the Arafura Sea, and all the while these nets keep fishing.

Funding in doubt

Sadly, the issue of abandoned fishing nets in our oceans is nowhere to be seen in our political discourse. Funding cuts mean the future of Ghost Nets Australia, the lead organization dedicated to researching and raising awareness of ghost nets, is in doubt. Art is not only a powerful way of raising awareness of ghost nets, it may soon be one of the only ways we have to draw attention to this global environmental menace.

In the meantime, ghost net sculptures such as Dauma and Garom provide an insight into the artists' struggle to protect their marine environment. If the sculptures represent a challenge to the transnational fishing industry, they also represent a challenge to us as individuals. These sculptures remind us that whether we eat sustainable seafood or toss plastic into a stormwater drain, our actions can affect people and the environment thousands of kilometres away.

As Darnley Island artist Racy Oui-Pitt reminds us: "Just like the cod (Garom) and the crab (Dauma) together in the keper (shallow pool), we are all connected."

Sadly, as all of Clean Up Australia Day's volunteers already know, one of the ways we are currently connected is through our rubbish.

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Ghostly art, made from debris that menaces marine life

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With more than half a million people participating in last Sunday's Clean Up Australia Day, it's perhaps not surprising that some odd objects came to light. Not all the rubbish was on land, and not all the rubbish was what you might normally expect to find in the water.

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PET Lamp: The Bright Idea Weaving Plastic Waste and Aboriginal Textiles Together

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PET Lamp: The Bright Idea Weaving Plastic Waste and Aboriginal Textiles Together

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Catalán de Ocon worked collaboratively with eight indigenous weavers in Arnhem Land, part of Australia's northern territory, to transform ocean-bound plastic bottles into a creative work of art that also utilises and promotes the traditional textile techniques of local weavers.

'We wanted to use local resources and craftsmanship rather than industrial processes, and to reuse instead of simply recycle,' explains Catalán de Ocon. 'We cut the plastic bottle into strips so it becomes like a loom you can weave on, combining a global object with the local weaving technique of basket making.'

The six-week project was commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, who put Catalán de Ocon in touch with the remote community of Ramingining. The local artisans are mostly known for creating traditional mats out of a fibre called pandanus, which is taken from palm trees and dyed with natural pigments.

Their customary weaving technique and the community's cultural influences have been brought together to create a structure that represents both the topography of the Australian landscape and the complex family bonds between the Aboriginal weavers.

'There are two ways of living in the country that are very distinct,' says Catalán de Ocon. He began his research by studying a night satellite view of the country, which inevitably showed up concentrations of inhabited areas in the Western coastal cities, but to his surprise it also revealed remote inland areas lit up by the controlled forest fires made by indigenous Australians.

This discovery inspired the basic shape of the overall lamp, with the PET plastic bottles representing the Western urban cores and the weaving referencing the Aboriginal fringe communities.

However, once Catalán de Ocon began working with the weavers, this map-like characteristic of the PET Lamp took on another dimension, with the Bukmukgu Guyananhawuy (meaning 'every family thinking forward') essentially becoming a family tree that links each of the artisans together.

Interestingly, one of the weavers called Mary is the twin sister of famous aboriginal actor David Gulpilil, who featured in Walkabout and Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Each of the eight weavers were commissioned to create one lamp each, but Mary created two, explaining she had a dual vision of the world and all her creations have a twin piece.

This inspired the idea of connecting the fibres, much like an umbilical cord, to merge the individual pieces together, illustrating the strong nature of Aboriginal kinship.

'We began to understand all the different family bonds, which are far more complex than you might think, explains Catalán de Ocon. 'They have a blood bond, which we are familiar with in Western culture, but they also have one of the skin that is linked to their territory, plus distinct dialects, so when you end up in an area where you no longer understand someone, it means you should return to your boundary. Then there's also the totem, which are animals they assign to each other.'

Catalán de Ocon admits this type of project has its cultural implications, especially when it comes to the project's longevity and profitability. 'While this project could be a commercial success I feel everything is so linked to money - it's not as simple as that. I would rather invest in a space for the community to continue weaving and keep it sustainable rather than just pay them cash.

'There's a concept called "handbagging", which links back to when they were nomads and had no property, so if an aboriginal person comes up you and asks you for something you have to give it to them. If they asked for water, a place to stay or something to eat, you would honour that request, and that still remains deeply rooted in their culture. If we paid them $10,000 and someone passed them by and asked for money, they would have to give it to them, simple as that.'

This isn't the first time Catalán de Ocon has worked with artisans to create lamps out of the waste material. The idea was conceived back in 2011, way before the ' war on plastic ' became a hot topic. Catalán de Ocon created the first PET Lamp collection in Colombia, which went on to win awards, including London Design Museum's 'Design of the Year'.

For more information on the project and to read about Catalán de Ocon's journey, click here.

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PET Lamp: The Bright Idea Weaving Plastic Waste and Aboriginal Textiles Together

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Catalán de Ocon worked collaboratively with eight indigenous weavers in Arnhem Land, part of Australia's northern territory, to transform ocean-bound plastic bottles into a creative work of art that also utilises and promotes the traditional textile techniques of local weavers.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have developed an intricate understanding of the environment over many thousands of years.

Artist: Laurie Nilsen

The artwork used in the design of this website represents the relationships between seasonal, meteorological and astronomical changes - and how the Mandandanji people read these changes to inform life on country.
About the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website
Learn more about the Indigenous Weather Knowledge (IWK) website and the Bureau of Meteorology's commitment to strengthening respectful and collaborative relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Language, culture and environmental knowledge
See an overview of the relationships between language, culture and environmental knowledge.
Reconciliation Action Plan
This plan formalises the Bureau of Meteorology's commitment and contribution towards reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples and the wider Australian community.
Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

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The Indigenous meteorology of Australia, knowledge on weather, calendars and climate.

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In the memorable second instalment of Blue Planet II, we are offered glimpses of an unfamiliar world - the deep ocean. The episode places an unusual emphasis on its own construction: glimpses of the deep sea and its inhabitants are interspersed with shots of the technology - a manned submersible - that brought us these astonishing images. It is very unusual and extremely challenging, we are given to understand, for a human to enter and interact with this unfamiliar world.

The most watched programme of 2017 in the UK, Blue Planet II provides the opportunity to revisit questions that have long occupied us. To whom does the sea belong? Should humans enter its depths? These questions are perhaps especially urgent today, when Nautilus Minerals, a mining company registered in Vancouver, has been granted a license to extract gold and copper from the seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Though the company has suffered some setbacks, mining is still scheduled to begin in 2019.

BBC/Blue Planet

This marks a new era in our interaction with the oceans. For a long time in Western culture, to go to sea at all was to transgress. In Seneca's Medea, the chorus blames advances in navigation for having brought the Golden Age to an end, while for more than one Mediterranean culture to travel through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the wide Atlantic was considered unwisely to tempt divine forces. The vast seas were associated with knowledge that humankind was better off without - another version, if you will, of the apple in the garden.

If to travel horizontally across the sea was to trespass, then to travel vertically into its depths was to redouble the indiscretion. In his 17th-century poem Vanitie (I), George Herbert writes of a diver seeking out a "pearl" which "God did hide | On purpose from the ventrous wretch".

In Herbert's imagination, the deep sea is off limits, containing tempting objects whose attainment will damage us. Something like this vision of the deep resurfaces more than 300 years later in one of the most startling passages of Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus (1947), as a trip underwater in a diving bell figures forth the protagonist's desire for occult, ungodly knowledge.

National Undersearch Research Program (NURP)

Mann's deep sea is a symbolic space, but his reference to a diving bell gestures towards the technological advances that have taken humans and their tools into the material deep. Our whale-lines and fathom-lines have long groped into the oceans' dark reaches, while more recently deep-sea cables, submarines and offshore rigs have penetrated their secrets. Somewhat paradoxically, it may be that our day-to-day involvement in the oceans means that they no longer sit so prominently on our cultural radar: we have demystified the deep, and stripped it of its imaginative power.

But at the same time, technological advances in shipping and travel mean that our culture is one of " sea-blindness": even while writing by the light provided by oil extracted from the ocean floor, using communications provided by deep-sea cables, or arguing over the renewal of Trident, we perhaps struggle to believe that we, as humans, are linked to the oceans and their black depths. This wine bottle, found lying on the sea bed in the remote Atlantic, is to most of us an uncanny object: a familiar entity in an alien world, it combines the homely with the unhomely.

Laura Robinson, University of Bristol, and the Natural Environment Research Council. Expedition JC094 was funded by the European Research Council.

Deep trouble

For this reason, the activities planned by Nautilus Minerals have the whiff of science fiction. The company's very name recalls that of the underwater craft of Jules Verne's adventure novel Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas (1870), perhaps the most famous literary text set in the deep oceans.

But mining the deep is no longer a fantasy, and its practice is potentially devastating. As the Deep Sea Mining Campaign points out, the mineral deposits targeted by Nautilus gather around hydrothermal vents, the astonishing structures which featured heavily in the second episode of Blue Planet II. These vents support unique ecosystems which, if the mining goes ahead, are likely to be destroyed before we even begin to understand them. (Notice the total lack of aquatic life in Nautilus's corporate video: they might as well be drilling on the moon.) The campaigners against deep sea mining also insist - sounding not unlike George Herbert - that we don't need the minerals located at the bottom of the sea: that the reasons for wrenching them from the deep are at best suspect.

So should we be leaving the deep sea well alone? Sadly, it is rather too late for that. Our underwater cameras transmit images of tangled fishing gear, cables and bottles strewn on the seafloor, and we find specimens of deep sea animals thousands of metres deep and hundreds of kilometres away from land with plastic fibres in their guts and skeletons.

It seems almost inevitable that deep sea mining will open a new and substantial chapter on humanity's relationship with the oceans. Mining new resources is still perceived to be more economically viable than recycling; as natural resources become scarcer, the ocean bed will almost certainly become of interest to global corporations with the capacity to explore and mine it - and to governments that stand to benefit from these activities. These governments are also likely to compete with one another for ownership of parts of the global ocean currently in dispute, such as the South China Sea and the Arctic. The question is perhaps not if the deep sea will be exploited, but how and by whom. So what is to be done?

BBC NHU

Rather than declaring the deep sea off-limits, we think our best course of action is to regain our fascination with it. We may have a toe-hold within the oceans; but, as any marine scientist will tell you, the deep still harbours unimaginable secrets. The onus is on both scientists and those working in what has been dubbed the " blue humanities " to translate, to a wider public, the sense of excitement to be found in exploring this element. Then, perhaps, we can prevent the deep ocean from becoming yet another commodity to be mined - or, at least, we can ensure that such mining is responsible and that it takes place under proper scrutiny.

The sea, and especially the deep sea, will never be "ours" in the way that tracts of land become cities, or even in the way rivers become avenues of commerce. This is one of its great attractions, and is why it is so easy to sit back and view the deep sea with awed detachment when watching Blue Planet II. But we cannot afford to pretend that it lies entirely beyond our sphere of activity. Only by expressing our humility before it, perhaps, can we save it from ruthless exploitation; only by acknowledging and celebrating our ignorance of it can we protect it from the devastation that our technological advances have made possible.

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Unless we regain our historic awe of the deep ocean, it will be plundered

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In the memorable second instalment of Blue Planet II, we are offered glimpses of an unfamiliar world - the deep ocean. The episode places an unusual emphasis on its own construction: glimpses of the deep sea and its inhabitants are interspersed with shots of the technology - a manned submersible - that brought us these astonishing images.

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John Wolseley, artist, emerges as a lyrical poet and a prophet

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John Wolseley’s exhibition Heartlands and Headwaters, which opened last month at the National Gallery of Victoria, may be the most important exhibition about art and the environment to be held in Australia for a generation.

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Wearable Art Activism - Collaborative Project

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Wearable Art Activism - Collaborative Project

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Fusing individual patches together to make one wearable art piece

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World of WearableArt™ Celebrating 25 Years - Supreme WOW Award Winners

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All over Australia, Aborigines had their own local yearly calendars. Just as the climate in Kakadu is very different from that of Melbourne, so the Wurundjeri had their own way of marking the changing seasons. The division of the year into four seasons comes from Northern Europe, and does not fit Melbourne.

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Posted April 29, 2016 15:09:40

Every week Australians throw away millions of single-serve coffee pods and one Sunshine Coast woman is determined to wear a statement about their environmental impact.

Jules McCrae is a blacksmith who's spent the last decade crafting furniture and objects that can stand the test of time.

You don't need money to be creative, you just need to think outside the triangle and look at things to see how they can be transformed into something else.

Recently, she turned her skills towards wearable art made from recycled products.

"My first piece I made out of spoon heads and screen doors. There were many hours of cutting of spoon handles, cutting holes and sewing them onto fabric," Ms McCrae said.

"The following year I used corrugated iron and kites, an umbrella and some upholstery scraps and came up with really cool pieces."

Protesting consumerism with coffee

After experimenting with tyres and Christmas baubles, Ms McCrae is on a mission to make a dress out of coffee pods.

"A friend of mine who consumes a lot of coffee gave me some because she knew that I could do something with them, and she was also aware that if something wasn't done with them they'd end up as landfill," she said.

"I've started cleaning them out and now I'm just sewing them all together to create a shape."

Just weeks into the project, Ms McCrae has already joined 500 pods together into a tessellated shape.

Sending messages with wearable art

As a two-time Australian Body Art Festival winner, Ms McCrae said using recycled products was a great opportunity for artists to send messages about mass consumerism as well as save money.

"Being an artist there's not usually any money in it, and you don't need money to be creative, you just need to think outside the triangle and look at things to see how they can be transformed into something else," she said.

"It doesn't matter your age or your financial situation, there's always something out there that you can collect and turn into something kind of cool."

Ms McCrae said she hoped her wearable fashion statements made people think about their purchases.

"We're in a society where everything is over-consumed and I like to make people think that to do at least one other thing with their item, it at least slows down the process of it being in landfill," she said.

"I hope that with my pieces that people start thinking about what they're using and thinking about what else they could do with it, and if I only inspire that thought process in a few people I feel like I've done what I'm trying to achieve."

Topics: recycling-and-waste-management, art-and-design, craft, nambour-4560

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Wearing your coffee to tackle consumerism

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Posted April 29, 2016 15:09:40 Every week Australians throw away millions of single-serve coffee pods and one Sunshine Coast woman is determined to wear a statement about their environmental impact. Jules McCrae is a blacksmith who's spent the last decade crafting furniture and objects that can stand the test of time.

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CAVITE, Philippines (UPDATED) - If he could do something all his life, it would be to pursue his passion and craft action figures out of scrap.

"Kung ako lang po ang masusunod, gagawa ng gagawa po ako hanggang mapuno ang bahay namin ng mga character," Elmer Padilla, an action figure artist, told Rappler.

(If I have a choice, I would craft as many characters as I can until our house is filled.)

But Elmer, 30, a pedicab driver on the side, has to feed his family of 4.
Trying his luck
The Padilla family recently moved to Imus City in Cavite from Catbalogan City in Samar province to try Elmer's luck.

Without a peso left in his pockets, Elmer couldn't buy food for his family nor work on his papers to apply for a job. But luckily, he has samples of his craft.

"Gipit na gipit ako. Nagtatanong-tanong ako saan dito maraming tao, kaya tinuro sa akin sa Lotus sa Imus. Doon ako gumawa ng mga character. May display din habang gumagawa," he told Rappler.

(I was short of money. I asked where there were many people and was told (to go to) Lotus in Imus. I crafted characters there. I brought samples of my work as display.)

That Sunday afternoon, September 17, Elmer walked about 5 kilometers to reach Lotus Mall and started making figures from the movies Hellboy and Transformers out of flip-flops.

Photos of Elmer's crafts went around the internet.

He caught a netizen's attention and posted his photos on Facebook, and was reposted in several pages - one of which garnered over 41,000 likes and about 17,400 shares.

Elmer said he knew he couldn't afford buying the expensive action figures he sees at the malls. A Hellboy figure can be priced as much as P4,000 whereas he can create one himself using scrap.

"Hindi po ako makakabili kaya ginamit ko na lang po yung kakayahan na meron ako. Para mabuo ang mga character sa mga scrap lang po na pwede pa nating mapakinabangan," he said.

(I can't afford buying those so I'm just using the talent that I have to craft the character using scrap materials that can still be recycled.)
Out of poverty
Elmer said it has always been his dream to be able to craft figures and hopes that one day his earnings will be enough to sustain his family.

He has always been creative as a kid. He started sculpting flip-flops for fun until he was able to master crafting figures from his favorite action movies.

Back in the day, he considers selling his characters at P500 a "lucky day." On the "unlucky days," some figures were sold for as low as P100 just to be able to earn money.

Elmer said that he spends a day of work to finish the characters. Those with intricate details take a day or two.

When he started, he wasn't so optimistic about earning with his craft. Back in Catbalogan, he doesn't earn as much when he sold his characters given the economic situation in the area where he used to live.

"Kung mayroon mang tutulong sa akin, susuporta, siguro ipapagpatuloy ko po para mapahalagahan ko ang mga ginagawa ko. Pero kung ganito lang naman po, gawa ng gawa ako, mabagal ang income ko po, siguro mag ko-construction na lang ako," he said.

(If somebody will help me, give support, maybe I would continue (creating figures) so I can appreciate what I'm doing. But if I just continue to create and have slow income from it, maybe it's better for me to apply for a construction worker job.)

Since he went viral on Facebook, Elmer has been invited to several conventions to exhibit and sell his work. Currently, toy collector and maker Jerry Santos, owner of Life Size Toys and Collectibles, trains and extends his support to Elmer.

He was also recognized by the Imus City government for his setting an example to save the environment through recycling on Friday, October 20.

Elmer was also given the chance to give one of his action figures to Hollywood actors Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth. Ruffalo starred as The Hulkin The Avengers while Chris Hemsworth played the character Thor.

Believe it or not, this #Hulk doll is made out of recycled tsinelas (that's tagalog for flip-flops). Elmer Padilla made this for me so I just wanted to give a nice shoutout. Not only is this inventively creative, but it's sustainable and just pure awesome! Thank you Elmer! pic.twitter.com/JiA4E91LjZ
- Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 20, 2017
Hope
It may be pure luck but nonetheless Elmer's grateful. He still hopes to open his own business.
"Siyempre po napupusuan ko na po ang mga pangarap ko na gumawa ng maraming character at magkaroon ng sariling shop. Kaya nagpapasalamat po ako kung ganoon yung mangyayari na may tutulong at tsaka susuporta sa mga ginagawa ko."
(Of course, I would love to work on my dreams of creating characters and to have my own shop. That's why I am grateful to everyone who will help and support my endeavors.)

For him, it's never too late to master a craft and pursue one's passion.

"Kung mayroon man kayong nakikitang tulad ng ginagawa ko, pagbutihin niyo lang kung kayo ay may kakayahan, (If you see somebody who has the same skills as I have, do your best in mastering that craft)," he said. - Rappler.com
Want to send financial assistance to Elmer Padilla? You may send it through his bank account: UnionBank of the Philippines
ACCOUNT NAME: Elmer B. Padilla
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1093 5039 4052

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Boy Tsinelas: Crafting action figures out of flip-flops

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CAVITE, Philippines (UPDATED) - If he could do something all his life, it would be to pursue his passion and craft action figures out of scrap. "Kung ako lang po ang masusunod, gagawa ng gagawa po ako hanggang mapuno ang bahay namin ng mga character," Elmer Padilla, an action figure artist, told Rappler.

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WOW - 2018 Section Inspiration: Aotearoa

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WOW - 2018 Section Inspiration: Aotearoa

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Public Art work

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Jill Chism Public Art - Jill is a professional artist from North Queensland, working on public art around Australia

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News article

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BY the year 2050 there will be more plastic rubbish floating in our oceans than fish unless we make some drastic changes to the way use and dispose of plastic materials.

This is the prediction from a report presented at this year's World Economic Forum in Switzerland, which also suggests that marine and bird life will be devastated in just three short decades unless we act now to collectively reduce plastic consumption, increase recycling and dispose of plastic waste appropriately.

Yet despite the drastic urgency surrounding this issue, too many people are unaware of just how damaging everyday plastic has the potential to be. To this end, celebrated Canadian photographer and visual artist Benjamin Von Wong has recently launched an international campaign with a series of images he hopes will work to raise awareness and action on plastic pollution in our oceans.
AUSTRALIA'S PLASTIC ADDICTION
Increasing plastic waste on our beaches and in the sea is devastating marine life, says James Cordwell, marine campaigner for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

"Plastic pollution is a very real threat to our marine environment that has become such a problem that it's literally choking the life out of our oceans and beaches," he says.

"You won't find a beach in Australia that doesn't have some form of plastic washed up on it."

The Australian Marine Conservation Society reports that almost 90 per cent of the marine debris found on beaches is plastic - mostly bottles, caps and straws.

Australians buy around 600 million litres of bottled water a year, which then make up around 38 per cent of all plastic in the ocean. And that as a nation we use around 10 million plastic bags a day, which equates to 3.9 billion plastic bags a year.

"Plastic is floating around out there, choking and tangling wildlife," Cordwell says. "Fish are unknowingly ingesting tiny plastic microparticles and sea turtles are biting into what they think are juicy jellyfish but instead end up with plastic bags stuck in their guts. Even seabirds who find visible plastic out at sea, thinking it's a fish, bring it back to fed to their chicks who then die from its ingestion."

If plastic's damage to our animals and their environment isn't a strong enough call-to-arms, consider this: according to The Boomerang Alliance, Australia's prime campaign group on waste and recycling in Australia, every time you eat seafood you're potentially ingesting these same indestructible plastic particles into your own body.
#MERMAIDSHATEPLASTIC
To raise awareness of the ocean's urgent plight, Benjamin Von Wong, a renowned Canadian conceptual photographer and conservationist, has developed an epic visual movement called #mermaidshateplastic, which he hopes will draw the world's attention to the grave threat plastic waste poses to the world's oceans.

Using his signature hyper-realistic art style, Von Wong photographed models transformed into 'mermaids' 'swimming' amid 10,000 discarded plastic bottles he used to represent the sea. The ambitious shoot took place in a Montreal warehouse where Von Wong staged each of his scenes and photographed from above.

Currently in Australia, Von Wong spoke to news.com.au about the #mermaidshateplastic campaign, which launched globally last week.

"To me, the ocean is ... like space but on our own planet and it's something I find really fascinating," Von Wong says. "But, virtually every single piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists on the planet today and if we do nothing, by 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the sea and that's terrifying."

As an artist, Von Wong says that while he isn't able to find the tangible solution to this problem, he's chosen to apply his creative skills to draw the world's attention to the ocean's urgent plight. "I'm not a plastics engineer, I can't create a new material, I can't impact policy but what I can do, hopefully, is drive awareness," Von Wong explains.

"I just want to be a part of that positive change to help push people in a direction that will provide more awareness. In this way I might be able to reach someone who is smarter than me or a kid who's going to think up the next big solution."
THE PLASTIC PLEDGE
While the situation is dire, Cordwall says there are things we can all do every day to reduce our own impact when it comes to plastic waste. "Every step towards using less plastic in our own lives means there's less chance that it will get into the marine environment," he says.

"For example, if one person takes a reusable bag to the supermarket, they may think it's just one bag but if 24 million people do that, it's a huge reduction in plastic use and waste."

Also, as we head to the beach this summer for some relief from the heat, Cardwell suggests some simple things we can all do to protect our oceans from increasing plastic pollution.

"The number one rule is 'take only photographs and leave only footprints.

"If you take stuff to the beach, remember to take it home so it doesn't end up as litter," he says. "There's also this great organisation called Take Three for the Sea. Every time you go to the beach and you see three bits of rubbish, pick them up, take them home and put them in the bin.

"Collectively, if everyone going to the beach this summer does that, it's a pretty good job by all involved."
You can also sign Von Wong's current Change.org petition - Mermaids Hate Plastic: Pledge to Re-Use - and promise to make small, individual changes every day towards collectively achieving big results in our ocean's plight against plastic.

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You'll remember to bring your reusable bags after seeing this

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BY the year 2050 there will be more plastic rubbish floating in our oceans than fish unless we make some drastic changes to the way use and dispose of plastic materials.

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Media Release

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Student Wearable Art - Environmental section

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Student Wearable Art - Environmental section

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Plastic Ocean Debris a Driver of Climate Change

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Plastic Ocean Debris a Driver of Climate Change

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Algalita | Marine Research and Education

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Plastic Ocean Debris a Driver of Climate Change?

By Sarah "Steve" Mosko

Though burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming, fossil fuels could also be driving climate change via a completely different mechanism involving ocean plastic debris and tiny, bioluminescent fish living hundreds of meters beneath the ocean's surface.

Lanternfish ( aka myctophids) are only a few inches long typically but so ubiquitous that they account for over half the ocean's total fish-mass. They are vital to the ocean's ability to sequester more carbon than all the world's forests do on land through a daily mass migration that plays out in all seven seas.

By day, lanternfish avoid predators in deep, dimly lit waters, but they ascend nightly to the surface to gorge on carbon-rich plankton before descending back down where they deposit their carbon-rich poop. They also sequester carbon when eaten by larger fish.

Carbon sequestration by lanternfish is central to the overall role of marine environments in reducing human-caused CO2 emissions in the atmosphere - by an estimated 20-35 percent.

Thus, anything harmful to lanternfish could hinder the ocean's capacity to act as a carbon sink. Alarming evidence that small bits of floating plastic debris resemble the plankton lanternfish feast on could spell trouble for them and, consequently, the climate.

Lanternfish are consuming ocean plastics
Most plastics are still derived from petroleum and natural gas and, for practical purposes, are non-biodegradable, even though they fragment during weathering into progressively smaller pieces.

Marine debris is composed primarily of plastics which accumulate in circulating ocean convergence zones called gyres. Since the groundbreaking discovery by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in 1999 that plastic debris outweighed zooplankton in the surface waters of the N. Pacific gyre by a ratio of 6:1, there has been concern that small plastic fragments might be mistaken for food by plankivorous sea life.

A follow-up study revealed that more than a third of the stomachs of lanternfish captured at the ocean's surface in the N. Pacific gyre contained plastic fragments. Importantly, ingested plastics were similar in size (1-3 mm) and color (clear, white and blue) to the area's zooplankton.

Researchers at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography confirmed that lanternfish are consuming plastics and estimated that the weight of plastic debris consumed annually by fish in the in the N. Pacific gyre alone is 10s of tons.

Ingestion of plastic debris by lanternfish is thought to explain an otherwise head-scratching finding. Mass quantities of the plastics that are entering the ocean are disappearing, according to scientists who measured plastic debris in the surface waters of all five of the world's major gyres. Importantly, the missing plastic is largely debris 2-3 mm in size, matching the lanternfish's plankton diet.

Intestinal blockage, malnutrition and starvation are obvious potential dangers of consuming plastic debris, though chemicals associated with marine plastics might pose greater threats.

Oily toxic pollutants commonly found in seawater adsorb to the surface of plastics. Once ingested, the pollutants can transfer to the tissues of wildlife with potential for transfer up the food chain as smaller fish are eaten by larger ones.

Threat also stems from the basic building blocks of some polymers. Polycarbonate plastic, for example, is derived from BPA (bisphenol A), an estrogen mimic so harmful to the development of lab animals that use of polycarbonate plastics in baby bottles and sippy cups was banned in the United States in 2012.

The basic constituents of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene plastics are known or suspected carcinogens.

The myriad of additives which impart desired properties to plastic products add another layer of concern. Phthalate plasticizers and polybrominated flame retardants are common additives which interfere with hormonal systems in mammals, for example. Because additives are not bonded to the plastic polymer, they can leach out of ingested plastics into an organism's tissues.

A recent study documented contamination of lanternfish tissue with chemicals both manufactured into plastics and adsorbed from seawater.

Furthermore, the buoyancy of plastics might interfere with the lanternfish's ability to complete its migration from the surface back down to deeper waters, critical to sequestering carbon in the ocean's depth.

Ocean plastic pollution to increase further
If lanternfish eating plastic debris represents a threat to climate stability, the situation is projected to only get worse.

Half of all plastics that ever existed were produced in just the last 13 years, according to a first-ever accounting of all plastic created anywhere on Earth since 1950. Of the 6300 million metric tons of plastic waste ever generated through 2015, roughly one-fifth has been recycled or incinerated, leaving four-fifths amassed in landfills or in the natural environment.

If current trends prevail through 2050, landfills and the natural environment will have accumulated 12,000 million metric tons of plastic waste.

In another first-ever study, researchers estimated how much plastic waste is entering the ocean yearly from the mismanaged discards of people in coastal countries worldwide - between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons or 1-5 percent of plastics generated.

Depending on buoyancy, some plastics float while others sink to the bottom or distribute throughout the water column. Given the ocean's expanse and the rate that new plastics are entering, open ocean cleanup schemes are not a feasible solution.

The Solution
At the heart of the global climate crisis is mankind's dysfunctional relationship to fossil fuels. As in any bad relationship, ignoring the problem only kicks the can down the road while the problem continues to fester.

In this case the road leads to greater climate instability which, in the very least, portends more violent storms and droughts, spread of human diseases, social, economic and political upheavals and mass species extinction.

The needed relational shift is to transition from an economy based on fossil fuels as a primary source of energy and material feedstock for manufactured goods to one thriving on renewable energy sources and manufactured goods which are biodegradable or easily recycled. Abandoning single-use plastics is also an imperative.

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Plastic Ocean Debris a Driver of Climate Change? - Algalita | Marine Research and Education

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By Sarah "Steve" Mosko Though burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming, fossil fuels could also be driving climate change via a completely different mechanism involving ocean plastic debris and tiny, bioluminescent fish living hundreds of meters beneath the ocean's surface. Lanternfish (aka myctophids) are only a few inches long typically but ...

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How Aboriginal burning changed Australian climate

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How Aboriginal burning changed Australian climate

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We know Aboriginal fires affected Australian vegetation, but now we have evidence they altered the monsoon too. ciamabue/Flickr

For thousands of years, Aboriginal Australians burned forests to promote grasslands for hunting and other purposes. Recent research suggests that these burning practices also affected the timing and intensity of the Australian summer monsoon.

It is perhaps difficult for some of us to imagine that a single species, Homo sapiens, can affect the Earth's climate system. But a cursory view of satellite images of the Earth emphasises the scale of the environmental changes that we have brought about. Most of us are aware of our contribution to the pollution of the Earth's atmosphere, rivers and oceans; to severe land degradation, salinity, and so on.

During the last few decades, human-induced climate change has been a pervasive theme in the scientific literature. Central to the concept is the role of greenhouse gas added to the atmosphere during the industrial era.

Lesser-known is the idea championed by Bill Ruddiman. This describes the role early farming played in climate change during the last several thousand years through land clearing, raising livestock, and irrigating rice paddies. Ruddiman's research, while not without its critics, suggests that these resultant climatic changes set the Earth on a different, unnatural climate path.

Ruddiman's findings led to the "early anthropogenic hypothesis". This is the idea that early agriculturalists caused an anomalous reversal in natural declines of atmospheric carbon dioxide 7,000 years ago and methane about 5,000 years ago.

As long ago as 1975, Jules Charney recognised climate feedbacks caused by land-surface modifications. He showed that vegetation clearing, overgrazing and burning may have had an impact on the devastating drought experiences of semi-arid areas such as the Sahel region of West Africa.

Additionally, it is well known that different vegetation types can alter evaporation, roughness, and surface reflectivity, leading to changes in the weather and climate.

The Australian scene

Europeans' impact on the Australian environment exemplifies the role of human modifications on the Earth's land-surface. Tom Lyons' " bunny fence " experiments have drawn attention to likely climate impacts and feedbacks Europeans may have caused. "Clearing the woodland" has been part of the European historical environmental geography literature for a long time.

Pre-historians and ecologists have been long concerned with the possible effect that Aboriginal vegetation burning practices may have had on the Australian ecology. Bill Gammage has recently published a very readable overview of the concept in " The biggest estate on Earth: how Aborigines made Australia ".

Vegetation burning remains a pervasive theme in Australian prehistory, but what impact has it had on the climate regime of the continent? An answer to this question can be found in two ways.

We can investigate the archives of vegetation changes associated with charcoal, recorded in geological sequences. Or we can take a more direct approach and use elements of the suite of climate models that are now available. For the Australian scene, previous climate model experiments have indicated a likely climatic response to changes in vegetation cover.

More recently, our research group, consisting of members from The University of Western Australia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, approached this theme through a comprehensive modeling effort using a global scale coupled ocean-atmosphere model. As part of a wider study of the climate history of the northwest Australian monsoon region, funded in part by Kimberley Foundation Australia, we posed the direct question: "Did Aboriginal vegetation burning practices impact on the function of the northwest Australian summer monsoon?"

We showed that the climate responded significantly to reduced vegetation cover in the pre-monsoon season. We found decreases in rainfall, higher surface and ground temperatures and enhanced atmospheric stability. In other words, there was a decline in the strength of the early monsoon "phase".

The results of the experiment lead us to suggest that by burning forests in northwestern Australia, Aboriginals altered the local climate. They effectively extended the dry season and delayed the start of the monsoon season.

More than anything else, our results are a further reminder, if needed, of the sensitivity of the global climate system.

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How Aboriginal burning changed Australia's climate

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For thousands of years, Aboriginal Australians burned forests to promote grasslands for hunting and other purposes. Recent research suggests that these burning practices also affected the timing and intensity of the Australian summer monsoon. It is perhaps difficult for some of us to imagine that a single species, Homo sapiens, can affect the Earth's climate system.

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Environmental Artist (Mackay)

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Posted August 12, 2016 13:10:05

A north Queensland artist and conservationist has created a life-size wave using thousands of thongs collected from marine debris.

While some people enjoy scouting the beach for aesthetically-pleasing seashells, David Day prefers collecting thongs and various bits of rubbish.

That is because for the past four years he has incorporated marine debris into his artwork.

"When I first started to make stuff out of it, a lot of people would look at it and think it's just a load of rubbish," the Mackay-based artist laughed.

"But when people started saying the fish I was making resembled what I was trying to make, that encouraged me to work a bit harder and make things look more realistic."

The environmentally-conscious artist has since used his artwork to shine a spotlight on marine conservation.

The gigantic wave took more than six months to create.

"I've caught many a wave in my day, and I've been smashed into the sand plenty of times too," he said.

"But when I was a young fellow, if I could have paddled into wave just like that, I would have been pretty happy.

"Ultimately, I would just like people to think about our marine creatures and the ocean, and try and make a cleaner environment for everyone to enjoy so it can keep living long after we're gone."

The stories behind each thong

Mr Day said some of the thongs he had collected had an interesting back story.

"You can see the teeth marks on this one," he said, pointing to one of the 1,400 thongs.

"Looking at the marks, you can tell it would have been a fairly big shark."

He said it was not uncommon to come across thongs that were covered in foreign writing or designs.

"I remember one thong had fishing line wrapped around it," Mr Day said.

He said someone had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to repair it.

"You wonder where it came from because people here probably wouldn't go to that much effort to repair their thongs," he said.

Lighters ignite artist's work

Mr Day recalls the day his artwork ignited out of concern for the environment.

"I live right on the beach at Shoal Point, so I see directly what litter is washed onto our shores and how constantly it appears," he said.

"Me and my son go for beach walks, and one afternoon we spotted a load of trash on the high-tide shoreline, and we started having a competition to see how many cigarette lighters we could find.

"In less than an hour we collected 22 cigarette lighters off one section of the beach.

"An alarm bell rang in my head and I thought 'If this is just one section of the beach, what is going on everywhere else?'"

Hoping to raise further awareness regarding his environmental concerns, Mr Day created a ABC Open video about his work, which received international attention.

"There are lots of places and different islands that I've never even heard of that have friended me on Facebook and given me words of encouragement," he said.

"That's what the translation says anyway," he said, tongue-in-cheek.

Mr Day's most recent artwork will be on display at the Mackay beach races later this month.

He said he was grateful to the Mackay Regional Council to receive RADF funding that gave him the chance produce an art piece that had an important environmental message.

Topics: conservation, contemporary-art, mackay-4740

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Artist creates giant wave using thousands of thongs

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Posted August 12, 2016 13:10:05 A north Queensland artist and conservationist has created a life-size wave using thousands of thongs collected from marine debris. While some people enjoy scouting the beach for aesthetically-pleasing seashells, David Day prefers collecting thongs and various bits of rubbish.

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in the ocean, seas, and other large bodies of water.

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An art project can starts with a common medium that the class explores together (such as drawing, painting, photoshop or print-making). An art project can also be inspired by a prompt, like Time or Place. The Environmental Wearable Art Project is one that I introduced to senior art students for the first time many years ago, back in Canada. The project started with a challenge to the students: Create a piece of art from recycled materials that can be worn.

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An art project can starts with a common medium that the class explores together (such as drawing, painting, photoshop or print-making). An art project can also be inspired by a prompt, like Time or Place. The Environmental Wearable Art Project is one that I introduced to senior art students for the first time many years ago, back in Canada.

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Singapore Art Museum's Imaginarium show for kids inspired by the sea

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More than 20,000 pieces of discarded plastic - from water bottles and drinking straws to cling film and plastic bags - have found their way into a gallery at the Singapore Art Museum. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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River Plastics Emissions to the World's Oceans

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River Plastics Emissions to the World's Oceans

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Rivers are a major source of plastic waste into oceans. We estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million metric tons of plastic currently enters the ocean every year via rivers, with 86% of this global input coming from Asia.

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When Marina DeBris moved to Venice, she was struck by the condition of the local beaches. She has been helping clean up the beaches by collecting trash but realized this was not the solution to the problem.

In 2009, DeBris was inspired to create works of art out of her trash collection. In some of her works, she recreates what looks like a natural object, but instead, it was created completely of washed up trash. Through her works, she wants to encourage others to consider ways to reduce waste so as not to harm our oceans and landfills.

Now the artist lives in Sydney and continues to do her environmental effort. Check out some of her creations below.

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Artist Creates A Fashion Collection Made of "Washed Up" Trash - TettyBetty

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When Marina DeBris moved to Venice, she was struck by the condition of the local beaches. She has been helping clean up the beaches by collecting trash but realized this was not the solution to the problem. In 2009, DeBris was inspired to create works of art out of her trash collection.

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An Art / Science Collaboration and Exhibition on the Impact of Microplastics in our Oceans

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Waste plastics contaminate our food, water and air. Many are calling for a global ban on single-use plastics because throwing them "away" often means into our river systems and then into the world's oceans.

Take the UK's single-use plastic bottles: it's estimated that 35m are used - and discarded - each day, but only 19m are recycled. The 16m bottles that aren't recycled go to incinerators, landfill or the environment, even though, being PET (polyethylene terephthalate) they are easily reprocessed. Even those bottles that are placed in the recycle stream may be shipped to Asia, in a global market for waste plastics that is itself leaky.

It's suspected that much of the "recycling" shipped to Asia may be joining local waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This soupy collection of plastic debris is trapped in place by ocean currents, slowly breaking into ever-smaller pieces, but never breaking down. Covered by bacterial plaques, they are mistaken for food by fish. Ingested, they contaminate the food chain and, potentially, may even be disrupting the biophysical systems that keep our oceans stable, thus contributing to climate change.

So we need to use far less plastic, re-use what we can, and dispose of what we must far more wisely. In facing this challenge, developed countries can learn from innovations in the less-developed world. People, globally, are innovating, creating new processes to use waste plastics and making new objects and art forms.

Filipino plastics

The Philippines, for example, is the world's third biggest plastic polluter. Waste material, even from municipal collections, makes its way into the river systems and, from there, out into the open Pacific, contributing to its "plastic soup". But it's largely what happens on land that determines the load the oceans must bear.

Industrial recycling isn't accessible to most people in the Philippines. Even if recycling were available, shipping their waste to China, long the centre of the global plastics recycling industry, is no longer a viable option: the industry is now the target of regulation by the Chinese government, eager to clean up its own environment.

Some waste in the Philippines is reprocessed locally. But people living in remote, rural areas have a stark choice. Either they bury their plastic waste locally, burn it, or come up with innovative solutions to repurpose the material instead. Given the unpalatable nature of the first two options, the country now has an innovative, artisanal plastic craft movement.

Villia Jefremovas

A few years ago, I worked with craftspeople and artists to put together an exhibition of repurposed plastic waste. The items that really stood out were those things that local people made according to traditional patterns. These were items people used for cultural events that marked their identity as tribal Filipinos. Much of the work of experimentation with the materials was happening in kitchens and workplaces as people shared techniques and tips with each other.

One of our contributing craftspeople, Ikkay, lives in a remote tribal village in Kalinga Province. She makes strands of plastic beads out of bits of waste plastic, using old CD cases and fast food spoons - anything with a bit of gloss. Her beads are replicas of traditional tribal designs. These beads are used in local cultural performances and shipped all over the world for demonstrations of Filipino dance.

Villia Jefremovas

Another example of creative re-purposing came from the nearby gold mines. There, mine workers weave the yellow, red and pink plastic wrappers of blasting cap detonators into traditional basket forms. They find the high quality wrappers just as good as the rattan they'd originally used. Burly mineworkers walking the roads with dainty pink-and-yellow plastic backpacks have become a frequent site in and around mining communities.

In both these examples - beads and backpacks - people had figured out innovative ways to re-purpose waste plastic. They took material that would have been garbage and turned it into an item that expressed important cultural values, making something cool, fun, and desirable.

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The material itself - waste plastic - has something to do with this. In these Filipino cases, it made tribal displays of beads extra impressive. The makers and wearers of these items were not just subverting ideas about waste, but about social hierarchies and the social power to innovate and set trends. People who admired the plastic craft started to see plastic no longer as just "stuff" on its way to being garbage. Instead, it became imbued with the potential to become something new and different and a way of asserting local ingenuity and identity in a global world.

Flip-flops and whales

These examples from the Philippines are not isolated ones. Around the world, there are many small-scale groups doing very similar kinds of projects with re-purposed plastic waste. Rehash Trash in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, makes baskets out of used plastic bags. Ocean Sole in Kenya works with discarded plastic flip-flops to make art. Other initiatives are networks, like that created by Precious Plastic a 3D printing initiative from Amsterdam. They have groups all over the world building 3D printers to create re-purposed plastic items for local markets.

In the UK, people have used fine art to communicate the urgency of the issue to the wider public, whether it's a giant plastic whale touring the UK or the artist Stuart Haygarth's collection of plastic waste from UK beaches, hanging in University College Hospital London. But pointing out the problem is only the first step in providing comprehensive solutions. We need to reduce our plastics footprint, seek out items made from recycled materials, and - most importantly - learn, hands on, about new ways to reuse what is now a ubiquitous class of waste materials.

Matt Alexander/PA Wire/PA Images

People are meeting the challenges plastic waste poses in creative ways. While the end goal will be to phase out the materials creating the bulk of the pollution, in the meantime we must improve the capture of recycling systems globally and make locally recycled and re-purposed materials more desirable and acceptable. Learning to love plastic - wisely - means taking on the responsibility for our own discarded items.

We could take up the examples of these local innovation workshops and 3D printing groups to get making in communities worldwide. While making new items won't halt the consumption of plastics altogether, it will divert material from the waste stream while helping people to see its potential. Offering the public a chance to co-create part of the solution should make the inevitable regulatory responses - deposits, disposal taxes and more rigorous waste sorting - more acceptable.

After all, waste plastic is still plastic and amazing stuff - you can make it into pretty much anything you can imagine.

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Waste plastics contaminate our food, water and air. Many are calling for a global ban on single-use plastics because throwing them "away" often means into our river systems and then into the world's oceans. Take the UK's single-use plastic bottles: it's estimated that 35m are used - and discarded - each day, but only 19m are recycled.

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Beach Couture: A Haute Mess | Maritime Museum of Tasmania

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Marina DeBris is an Australian based artist who makes amazing wearable art costumes out of plastic rubbish from the sea and seaside. Her creative and confronting work proves to be a medium with a very powerful message - the terrible effect of discarded plastics on the world and its wildlife.

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The Guardian news article

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‘Plastic is literally everywhere’: the epidemic attacking Australia’s oceans

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‘It never breaks down and goes away,’ say scientists struggling to understand the impact of widespread pollution

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The Guardian news article

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The great Australian garbage map: 75% of beach rubbish made of plastic

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Data compiled from rubbish collected by volunteers aims to encourage industry to control plastic pollution at the source