ABC Open Tropical North

Ocean rubbish turned into marine animals

By David Day · · From Makers and Creators

Everyday I go to my local beach and while I'm there I pick up bottle lids, bits of rope, rubber thongs and a variety of different plastics.

Most of the time all this rubbish I’m collecting would ultimately end up in landfill. What I’m trying to do is reduce landfill plus create awareness about all this rubbish that’s ending up in our oceans because it’s effecting our marine creatures that live there.

The rubbish I mainly find is bottle lids, cigarette lighters, toothbrushes and lots of plastic. Weather this debris is coming from our shores or from somewhere else I’m not sure but I know one thing, it’s ending up on our beaches and people like me are the ones picking it up.

Once you start picking up marine debris off the beach it becomes hard to walk past. It’s a good feeling when you pick something up that shouldn’t be there and leave it like nature intended.

The challenge is turning a piece of rubbish that is considered worthless by our society and turning it into a piece of art that has some value.

I’ll pick up a buoy or piece of plastic and I’ll think, that looks like the nose of a certain fish or the teeth of something or the head of a pelican and it just goes from there.

I’ve made over 40 pieces so far, turtles, stingrays, manta rays and fish. Some pieces are purely made out of thongs others made out of mixed marine debris.

The big sea turtle was made out of over 60 thongs and other bits of plastics found on my local beach.

The thing I like about this turtle is on the underside it has ropes, plastics bags, fishing line and different materials that the turtles actually eat and because of their digestive system these plastics are a real problem for them.

If someone is admiring one of my art pieces I’d like to think that they're reflecting on the ocean and maybe what they could do to help improve the conditions of their nearby waterways.

I don’t think the rubbish will ever stop going in the ocean but the more people that are aware of it and the more people that pick it up will obviously reduce the amount that remains in the ocean.

Because if no one picked anything up and left it there all your going to end up with is an ocean of rubbish.

Published 01 Oct 2015. Mackay QLD 4740

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David Day

Contributor

Mackay QLD 4740

39 Comments

Martial

Awesome artwork and concept. Keep up the environmental fun!
lachlan

cool!
Cath

David, love your work- so creative, and so caring! I live on the Sunshine Coast and pick up rubbish off the beach, almost always plastic. I have never made artwork, I have been inspired- thank you!
Jessi

this is a great thing, keep going with it mate!!!
Bella

Wow these creations are beautiful my favourite was the sting ray I think everyone should put their rubbish in the bin otherwise our marine animals will become extinct
Ella

I really enjoyed watching your video and I liked your creations , my top two favourite was the Dolphin and the Pelican.
Paula

Wonderful! In a similar spirit, have you heard of this guy, Tim Silverwood and his initiative Take 3 for the Sea?: http://www.take3.org.au/
Elba Beolchi

Extraordinay creation! Lily you have capture this person soul
Mary Finelli

Thank you very much for cleaning the beach and for your wonderful art with such an important message.
Lisey

Welldome, it is amazing how much rubbish is washed up every day. :O
Lily

That art was amazing! Only someone with a true heart can do that
maddie

this is a relay good inspiration to clean up the beach
MARGARET HARRIS

Good for you. Artistic too.
sam

That's very clever but he shouldn't have to do that because we shouldn't leave that much rubbish.
lina

it is so amazing that you can make stuff out of rubbish. i should start doing this.
david day

Thanks joan winston exactly only used the beach to showcase my art it would be pointless to collect n then throw it back in the ocean and is what im trying to prevent
Joan winston

You are wonderful, very clever, and your heart is in the right place.....brilliant work....and to Peter, another commenter, David isn't throwing these artworks back into the ocean, he's just using the beach as a backdrop for this story!
Red

I think this is an original idea and I strongly agree with that there is so much pollution in our oceans every year I usually go to Lady Elliot Island @ the Great Barrier Reef and we learn all about the marine animals, and for how much Rubbish there is in the ocean it is sicking though the thing I'm wondering about is do you keep your art away from the shore because the plastic can wash back to sea. Red (sorry if my spelling and grammar is bad)
Peter

I sorta don't get this story. Eviromentaly i get the need for this message of course, but how does the creation of these little art object from collected marine pollution raise a real and most urgently needed awareness of the devastating amounts of rubbish dropped into the worlds oceans that are destroy marine life and vital habitats at an alarming rate? How does adding more object back into the sea achieve this? How does it stop pollution and promote its removal. Because stating something to be so does not nessessarily making it so. I do admire this mans attempt to raise awareness and his courage for trying but I just don't think he sees the irony in how he has gone about it.
Diana Harley

David, your work is incredible! It should be on show at every beach around the world to make people aware of how much we pollute our sea environment and the affect it has on our beautiful sea creatures. Thankyou.
Brendan Mounter

Love this story and your art, David!! Keep up the amazing work - on the beach, in your garage and for ABC Open!!
Dianne

It is a wonderful gift to be able to turn trash into beautiful pieces and at the same time bring the plight of birds and sea creatures to the attention of us all. I wish you well in your endeavours.
Emily Bissland

beautiful artworks!
David Day

BigSash i use glues n a plastic welder
David Day

Yes Melissa Larsen still goin it is inspiring to have such great comments thankyou very much everyone
Charmaine Ingram

Thanks for looking after our beaches David. I just love your sculptures. I'm looking forward to seeing some jelly fish or maybe an octopus?
BigSash

Wonderful story, but I'm amazed that David can be so forgiving about people leaving their thongs and other rubbish behind. I have shared this with others and a query came back asking how the items are stuck together.
Bill & Trish Wright

Absolutely fabulous - we should all try to rid our beaches of all this "stuff". Well done, David.
Dave Deakin

Fantastic! Your art is clever, inventive and thought provoking, well done.
Lisa Siegel

Thanks for your inspiring work.....have shared it with our enviromental youth group Bellingen EYE (down here in NSW) - we might follow in your footsteps!
Kim Rosenberg

Fantastic David! Yes, very inspiring because I collect all sorts of plastic things and rubbish which I use in my Art work. You've inspired me to keep going and keep using rubbish creatively.
Dar

this is wonderful! you're a hero to our oceans! do you sell these?
Shane Hardy

What a brilliant idea, there is just so much littering the sea & shores one can only hope others might either remove it or recycle as inventively as you have.
Malcolm Wells

I loved this, and shared it with some friends who have done something similar here on the Capricorn Coast. Inspiring work that reinforces an important message.
Melissa larsen

great to see the film. I have tried to email you as I was hoping you could come in and do an art session with the small group of boys. would you still be keen to do that?
Christine Johnson

You are a star David. Great that you collect the plastic pieces, but then to create these pieces of art - excellent!
dave day

Thanks for all the great positive coments
Judy Parker

Incredible work David, your sculptures are amazing. I will share this with my young students and ask them to create their own creatures from waste they collect.
Renee Mouritz

Absolutely awesome David! So very, very inspiring. I have shared it around quite a bit already. I love your work and the reasons behind what you do. Thank you so much for caring and for creating and raising awareness through your beautiful art pieces!