Why we need to transition to a circular economy

Conceptual photographer Benjamin Von Wong has shared details about his latest project on his blog—an art installation made from 168,000 plastic straws called “The Parting of the Plastic Sea.” The idea behind the work is to draw attention to the “truckload of plastic flowing into the ocean every 60 seconds”—and to emphasize how a small step like forgoing a plastic straw when conducted on a large scale can make a big difference—stopping the “strawpocalypse,” as Von Wong puts it. Of course, Von Wong didn’t go out and buy the straws for the project—even if it would have only cost $10 for 100,000 of them. He took the harder route, working with Zero Waste Saigon, Starbucks Vietnam and hundreds of volunteers to gather used straws over the course of half a year. A local builder then helped to construct the frame that would support the “waves” of plastic. To generate maximum awareness, the installation was located at the Estella Place shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City. On his blog, Von Wong says “The Parting of the Plastic Sea” isn’t only about straws. He writes: “It’s about taking a first step towards paying attention to the plastic epidemic threatening the…