This is what dumping a truckload of plastic to the ocean every 60 seconds looks like

According to statistics, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic is dumped in the ocean every 60 seconds. Sounds kinda scary, right? Since the statistic may be difficult to visualize, Benjamin Von Wong has decided to demonstrate it with a series of photos, hoping to make a change. So, he gathered a team and a truckload of plastic, and created a set of impactful images, along with a project that aims to help decrease the pollution at the source.

The aim of this project is to highlight the real problem with plastic: we need to stop it at the source, or else cleanups and recycling alone would never be enough. For this project, Ben connected with Greenpeace and traveled with his team to Corfu Island in Greece. He and his team also connected with local organizations like Garbage Art Corfu. Along with Ben’s team and Greenpeace, they helped turn the idea into reality. The local organizations connected Ben to local schools and individuals, which ended up in collecting over ten thousand pieces of plastic for the project.

One of the challenges to overcome was to connect the pieces of plastic so they can be removed after the shooting was done. It took a few days to tie the plastics together. Ben and his team used old fishing line that was scavenged from the dumps of the Gouvia Marina.

Aerial dancer Katerina Soldatou was the model for the shots. With her suspended at different dramatic places on the island, Ben wanted to create art “that could show how little individual efforts mattered unless we could stop plastic at the source.”

Tying, transporting and arranging the plastic for the shots was quite a challenge. However, with the help of volunteers, everything was set perfectly for the project. And when the shooting was done, every single piece of the plastic was removed from the sea. Here are the final images:

The main goal of Ben’s project is to reduce plastic at the source. He asks big companies to “act more responsibly and stop putting so much plastic out there in the first place.” If you want to contribute to the cause too, you can sign the Greenpeace‘s petition and be a part of the project. And if you’d like to read more about the project, make sure to visit Ben’s blog.