Cultural tip on SDG 6: "Polluted Water Popsicles" art project
- 2022-12-08
- Janna Degener-Storr
Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals stands for "". Three designers from Taiwan used water samples to make ice lollies, in order to raise awareness of environmental pollution. The art project went viral, which means that it spread across the internet rapidly.
What could be better than a tasty ice lolly on a hot summer day? A Taiwanese group of designers created a colourful product range. However, the sweet treats conceal a bitter truth. The one hundred flavours produced by the three designers at the National Taiwan University of Arts contain items such as cigarette stubs, pieces of fishing nets, plastic waste and other poisonous materials.
The designers Hung I-chen, Guo Yi-hui and Cheng Yu-ti spent several months collecting water samples from one hundred different places in their native country for their degree project, which they then froze as ice lollies before preserving them with transparent polyester resin. They also designed deceptively authentic looking product packaging.
With its campaign ‘Polluted Water Popsicles’ the team would like to raise awareness of a global issue: eight million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans every year. That is one lorry full per minute! The United Nations also stressed in their that this is harmful to human health and the ecosystems, contributes to global water scarcity and inhibits sustainable economic development.
The art project was a great success: media from around the world reported about it, including the . The campaign has over 35,000 followers on alone. There is also an impressive video on . Maybe the team of artists can inspire people to consume more sustainably and to produce less waste.