| Apr. 19, 2009 | Posted by: Sheri |
Watershed, a New MSLK Eco-Installation
Here at MSLK we are keenly interested in the effects of society’s mass consumption of plastic. It seems that the things that are most transient to us such as disposable bags, silverware, applicators, packaging and bottles are made from plastic, a material that is very enduring. What happens when we are done with these single use items? Where do they end up? And more importantly how many of these things are we mindlessly using every day?
In 2008, we created the eco-art installation 2663 Urban Tumbleweeds to help the public visualize the effects of this mindless consumption. The end result was a 1/2 mile long chain featuring 2663 plastic shopping bags, a number equal to 1 second of US consumption.
Our latest installation, Watershed, features 1500 disposable water bottles and again highlights only 1 second of US consumption. Mixed throughout both installations are signs with facts about the dangers of this rate of consumption and what the public can do to make a change.
In the last 20 years, water has exploded as a new a commodity that companies feel should be bought and sold to us in plastic containers. The negative effects of this are widely documented, from the additional energy consumed to produce and truck bottled water, to the shift in priorities bottled water companies have on distributing water to poverty-stricken countries versus establishing public water systems, to the toxins plastic emits into bottled water and into our environment overall.
It seems to us that if there is one area we can quickly and succinctly eliminate the need for additional plastic waste, it is in our consumption of plastic water bottles. There once was time when water was not bought or sold but rather consumed straight from the tap and we need to evolve back to this simpler, more efficient method.
Hence the title, Watershed.
wa·ter·shed (wô’tər-shěd’, wŏt’ər-) n. A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: “a watershed in modern American history, a time that … forever changed American social attitudes” (Robert Reinhold).
Watershed’s flexible format allows it to be displayed in a variety of locations. It debuted outdoors in a large tree at the FIGMENT art festival on Governors Island in NYC in June 2009.
On September 21, 2009 it will flank the stage for the global premier of the film “The Age of Stupid,” which is sponsored by Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, Moveon.org, Friends of the Earth, and will receive a key note address by Kofi Annan.
Then on September 25-27th it will be re purposed again on the loading dock at 20 Jay Street, for the D.U.M.B.O Art Under the Bridge Festival.
At each and every event, Watershed will offer a water bottle refilling station featuring NYC tap water, and challenge participants to shed the feeling that they need to purchase water in plastic bottles when we have the best quality drinking water in the world coming out of our taps!
What a cool idea. You might be able to pick som up on the earth’s eighth continent?
http://sitfu.blogspot.com/2007/11/earths-eighth-continent.html
I know right? I’ve been freaked out ever since I read this article: http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2.php
Frightening, and gross.
Great idea, Sheri. I carry a stainless steel bottle now. There are new studies where water stored for long periods in plastic or water in a warm bottle (ie sitting in sun or car for instance) is also physically harmful. I can wait to see your installation. I’ll gather what I can for the cause.
Yes, you are absolutely correct Christina! Market research shows that consumers believe that bottled water is healthier, however, research reveals that the plastic bottles themselves pollute the contents.
Water bottles are incredibly wasteful. Have you seen this:
http://www.ethoswater.com/
It’s a very misguided attempt at charity, whereupon a portion of water bottle sales go to help give children clean water. It would be a great idea if it didn’t involve producing more water bottles. In fact, there’s a site dedicated to poking holes in their plan:
http://www.ethos-water.com/
Are you aware that our fabulous NYC tap water is at imminent risk? Natural gas drilling is proposed for the NYC watershed – i.e. the Catskill and Delaware River Basin region. To find out what this will mean for the health of our water supply (which is actually the water supply for 20 million people) check out any of the following websites:
http://www.nyh2o.org
http://www.waterunderattack.com
http://www.damascuscitizens.org
ProPublica and WNYC did a great story last year that is listed on the damascus citizens website.
Everyone in NYC should be aware of this, and should be contacting their councilpeople and representatives. We could well be in danger of losing not only our clean water, but everything that goes with it.
Promote drinking NYC tap water ! The Champagne of the Catskills. NYC’s water supply is just one of five unfiltered metropolitan water sources in the US. NYC residents consume 1.3 billion gallons of clean drinking water per day. The average New Yorker uses roughtly 120 gallons per day.
Thanks to the willing landowners in the NYC watershed region upstream, we’re applying innovative approaches to farm and forest landscapes that not only promote clean water but bolster sagging local and regional economies. Clean water has a price, one well spent in both NY watershed communities upstream and City neighorhoods. NYC water routinely meets (or exceends) EPA standards — Drink up!
Holding the exhibit in NYC makes sense, a great place to raise awareness. You may also want to team up with TakeBackTheTap.org/ny and Food & Water Watch’s NYC division. Good luck with the demonstration!
What a dramatic way to raise awareness of this issue. People who drink bottled water reach for it out of convenience and habit, but it’s evident that they don’t understand just how harmful this habit is to the environment.
Installations such as this help people visualize the scope of this problem.
We’re urging people to break free from single-serve bottled water at http://www.breakfree411.com and consider greener alternatives.
[...] you know from Watershed, even though recycling programs are in place, 80% of the water bottles we drink still end up in [...]
[...] two eco-installations projects “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds” and “Watershed” are featured in a new 256 page, full-color book due out soon entitled “Urban [...]
[...] representing the amount of plastic consumed in one second in the U.S. In 2009 they created “Watershed” out of 1,500 disposable plastic water bottles, and in 2008, “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds,” a [...]
[...] 2663 Urban Tumbleweeds and Watershed, we set out to raise awareness to the senseless over-consumption of plastics in our everyday life. [...]
[...] Fotocredit: mslk [...]