Ocean Park Encourages Reduction of Disposable Plastic by Celebrating “World Oceans Day” Using Over Ten Thousand Recycled Bottle Caps in a Giant Artwork to Raise Awareness of Plastic Waste

Being an ardent conservation advocate for marine protection, Ocean Park celebrates “World Oceans Day”, organized by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development General Assembly every 8 June, for the second consecutive year. From today until 8 June, guests can participate in a series of activities, including working together on a piece of gigantic layered artwork designed by a local artist that tries to arouse public awareness on the destructive consequences of plastic waste. Through this celebration, Ocean Park hopes to encourage guests to actively reduce their consumption of plastic products.

According to an estimation by Hong Kong Cleanup, Hong Kong people dispose an average of 952 plastic bottles every minute, which amounts to about 1.4 million plastic bottles being disposed of in a day, a quantity likely to cover the Hong Kong Stadium. To reflect the severity of the problems caused by plastic pollution and to encourage guests to help protect the ocean for the future, Ocean Park is collaborating with a local artist, Ms. Eva Leung, in creating a gigantic piece of layered artwork that illustrates marine animals and colourful corals. Located at the Park’s Waterfront Plaza, the 5m x 2m sized artwork, “CAPturing Our Future the Ocean”, calls on the public to make a pledge in reducing the use of disposable plastic products by placing over ten thousand recycled bottle caps onto the art piece in order to complete it. To highlight and strengthen the concept of “Recycle, Reuse, Reduce”, the Park also exhibits one of Ms. Leung’s masterpieces, “A Beautiful Smile”, in which she pieced together recycled bottle caps to portray the innocent smile of a girl that hints at a brighter future. Ms. Leung hopes her artwork can encourage her audience to care for the environment and create a better world for future generations.

In addition to the exhibition, guests can learn about marine conservation and get a chance to take home a “Blue Matters” souvenir at the game booth. The Park will also hold a free seminar on 7 June for 300 fishermen to talk about the relationship between everyday life and the ocean, encouraging them to become advocates of marine conservation.