This Sunday 6 August at 12noon. the Plastic Mountain will be unveilled! 

Together with the local community, a 2.5m tall pyramid-like form with layers of different coloured earth has been created. Passers-by were encouraged to collect plastic litter from the pavements around the site and attach these to a metal framework that sits inside the sculpture. There were lots of volunteers from 7-year-olds to Senior Citizens helping make the work.

The Plastic Mountain sculpture is situated just across from the West Norwood Library & Picturehouse, on a traffic island with St Luke’s Church as the stunning backdrop.

It is a busy location and it has  enabled lots of conversations with all sorts of people. The Plastic Mountain team has been on site throughout most of July ramming earth collected from local gardens and building projects into a large wooden box.

On Sunday 6 August, Briony and Adeline from the Plastic Mountain Team will dismantle the box for the first time, but what will you see once it is unveiled?

It will be a tall geometric shape with layers of different earth-toned soil and little bits of litter embedded in the layers, giving glints of bright artificial colours. The sculpture contrasts the natural with the man-made. Then over the next few months, the earth will slowly erode away to eventually leave just the plastic litter attached to the metal framework. 

The sculpture is a visual metaphor, showing how nature has its cycles but the plastic isn’t part of them and will remain.

Some plastic will take 1000 years to break down, and as it does so, millions of microplastics will form and accumulate in animals including human bodies and brains.

Everyone needs to keep trying to do their bit to reduce and reuse our plastic, try to avoid any single use plastics, and support systemic change towards a circular economy of plastic.

There is also a mural in three parts to view in West Norwood Library. This highlights:

• the problems of plastic;

• the four pillars of the circular economy of plastic;

• a local West Norwood initiative to reduce takeaway plastic waste.