The Itinerant Observatory of Plastic Pollution

11 June 2020 | by Alexandre Dechelotte

Challenged by a plastic crisis that seems to engulf us, how to stimulate others to act and engage?

A Mobile Space Dedicated To The Observation of Plastic Pollution

The Observatory is a small mobile container that carries popularised scientific data, as well as tools for observing surrounding plastic pollutions yourself. It will travel from town to city, across 3 continents, to share knowledge about plastic pollution with a diversity of people around the world.

An itinerant awareness-raising space to link local pollution and global impact.

The Observatory is a small mobile container carrying popularized scientific data and tools for experimentation. It will travel from town to city to encourage citizens in areas most affected by plastic pollution, to make a difference.

Participatory Science System

Provision of observation tools and samples of polluted water from all over the world, for one’s observation of the pollution of water by micro-plastics.

Life cycle of plastics

Computer graphics highlighting different stages in the plastic’s life, from the oil well to the shop shelves, to finally ending up in the Ocean.

Plastic never disappears. It is simply invisible to the naked eye.

Information on everyday single-used plastic’s durability and its very long (or even impossible) degradation in nature. Those include plastic bags thrown away as soon as they come back from the market, straws discarded once drinks are finished, or even cigarette butts consumed during only a few minutes. These will all take hundreds of years to disappear.

Dissection of An Ordinary Plastic Waste Product

Tube of toothpaste, a packet of crisps, food tray: the display of “cups” of ordinary waste, to highlight the different layers of which they are composed, and therefore their challenging recyclability.