We all know that plastic is ruling our lives as well as ruining our oceans and beaches. Plastic drink bottles, children toys, packaging from the aforementioned and food, is making plastic soup. There are a few companies that are giving back to save our oceans, one of them being Costa (Costa del Mar).
Costa, is a company committed to sustainable sport fishing practices and ocean conservation, and launched its Kick Plastic campaign earlier this year to educate its customers about the growing ocean trash issue, and encourage them to kick the plastic habit. Now, the brand takes the initiative one step further by offering solutions through products that help change behavior, and commissioning a sculpture of a jumping marlin made entirely out of washed up beach trash.
The nine-foot tall, seven-foot long fish will premiere at the entrance hall of the American Sportfishing Association’s ICAST event in Orlando July 14-17. Artist Angela Pozzi and her team of staff and volunteers from the non-profit organization Washed Ashore designed and the assembled the sculpture using thousands of collected plastic and metal cans found on beaches along the West coast.
A toy truck tire sliced in half makes up the outer ring of the marlin’s eyes, with pieces from a child’s plastic ball, a blue plastic automotive oil bottle, bottle lids and aluminum cans adding to the creation. Silver flip flop pieces, plastic water bottles, a mayonnaise jar lid and a baby bowl from Japan also went into the mix to create the eyes.
The sculpture is meant to serve as a stark reminder of how much trash can be found on coastal beaches, and start conversations about how anglers can become more involved in addressing the plastic problem. Costa produced a short video illustrating the making of the plastic art sculpture, seen here: www.costadelmar.com/kickplastic.
As part of the solution, Costa now offers a new stainless steel Klean Kanteen water bottle, a reusable heavy-duty tote bag made entirely out of material from recycled plastic bottles, and a line of t-shirts made from 50 percent polyester comprised of recycled bottles and plastics, and 50 percent organic cotton. The products are now available online at www.costadelmar.com.
“Plastic is everywhere, it’s unavoidable,” said Al Perkinson, vice president of marketing for Costa. “But we, as anglers, can work together to make small changes that will create a huge positive impact, such as swapping out our plastic bottles for a permanent one, or collecting plastic we find on the beaches and recycling it.”
“Our goal with the Kick Plastic campaign is to start conversations within the angling community about how we can all work together to address this issue head on,” said Perkinson. “If left unchecked, we can assume our oceans will be taken over with floating, melting plastic in a very short time.”
Anglers and sportfishing professionals attending ICAST are encouraged to see the sculpture and bring their empty plastic water bottles to the entrance of the show to trade out for a new permanent water bottle or other Costa gear. They’re also invited to post a photo of the plastic marlin sculpture on social media with the hashtag #kickplastic and tag @CostaSunglasses for a chance to win daily prizes and sunglasses.
After ICAST, the marlin sculpture will join Washed Ashore’s traveling environmental art exhibit. For more information about Washed Ashore and its other works of marine debris art, visit www.washedashore.org.
For more information on Costa’s Kick Plastic message, or to join in the global movement, visit http://bit.ly/kickplastic, or search for conversations through #KickPlastic. Also, watch and share the short animated video explaining the plastic pollution problem here http://bit.ly/kickplasticvid.
About Washed Ashore
The Washed Ashore Project is sponsored by Artula Institute for Arts and Environmental Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded by Angela Haseltine Pozzi in 2010. Washed Ashore is an environmental education project that uses art to raise awareness to the tragedy of plastic pollution in our oceans through community involvement. It has taken thousands of volunteers and thousands of pounds of marine debris to create the monumental sculptures that now make up the Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea traveling exhibit. In addition to the exhibit and art workshops, Washed Ashore is currently developing an integrated arts marine debris curriculum for schools, aquariums and zoos.
In addition to the displays at all three SeaWorld Parks, this summer the traveling exhibit can be seen at The Mystic Aquarium in Mystic CT. Upcoming venues in 2016 include The Houston Zoo, The Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, FL and The Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C.
About Costa™
As the leading manufacturer of the world’s clearest polarized performance sunglasses, Costa offers superior lens technology and unparalleled fit and durability. Still handcrafted today in Florida, Costa has created the highest quality, best performing sunglasses and prescription sunglasses (Rx) for outdoor enthusiasts since 1983.
For Costa, conservation is all about sustainable fishing. Many fisheries that should be vibrant and healthy are all but devoid of native fish because they have fallen victim to poor fishing practices, unregulated development, lack of watershed protection or all of the above. Costa works with partners around the world to help increase awareness and influence policy so that both the fish and fishermen of tomorrow will have healthy waters to enjoy. Costa encourages others to help in any way they can.