SHELF-LIFE
The series SHELF-LIFE raises awareness of marine plastic pollution washed up on the UNESCO world heritage site of uninhabited Henderson Island, isolated in the middle of the South Pacific, and more than 5,000km from the nearest landmass.
The images represent the LIFE of recovered plastic objects that have at some point existed on a SHELF, either within a supermarket, shop, storage unit, or at home - plastic manufactured on land, that has found its way to the natural reef and coral SHELF of Henderson Island.
Marine plastic items from over 45 major recognised brands, and from over 25 different countries were recovered from this unique location, home to many endemic species, and one of only 2 raised coral atolls in the world. Plastic objects that infiltrate this environment and habitat include objects from the top 5* plastic polluting companies in the world, sitting alongside species that exist nowhere else on the planet.
Over six tons of plastic was recovered on Henderson Island in June 2019, items such as; containers of hydrogen peroxide, bleach, oil, & shampoo, a McDonalds Happy Meal Toy - the Transformer ‘Optimus Prime’, inkjet cartridges, deodorant, syringes, ice cube tray, toys, fishing gear, lighters, food crates & packaging, household items, shoes & boots, pens, water bottles & caps, ice skating boot, stiletto heel, toilet seat & toilet brush, hairbrush, diving equipment, industrial pipe & filler, chess, dice & bingo pieces, and ‘Dumbo’ the Flying Elephant dating back to 1961…
The images in this series are inspired by the incredible coral reefs that surround Henderson, represented by the plastic objects that pass over them, and threaten their very existence. Each image is titled with a barcode - found on the objects recovered, to emphasise the LIFE of plastic that has travelled from SHELF to SHELF.
“My aim is for these images is to end up on the SHELF of someone who has the power to implement change concerning the issue of plastic pollution”.
Plastic recovered from Henderson showing brand identification;
Adidas, Canon, Castrol, Coca Cola, Colgate, Daewoo, Disneykins, Dunlop, Epson, Fujica, Gillette, Gordon’s, Harpic, Koozie, Lego, Mead Johnson, McDonalds, Mobil, Mondelez, Nescafe, Nestle, Nivea, Nomen, Oral B, Pilot, Pixy, Proal, Procter & Gamble, Reebok, Reckitt Benckiser, Ronson, Schick, SC Johnson, Sharpie, Shell, Singer, Sony, Sure, Syngenta, Puma, Unilever, Union, Virutex, Wahaha, Zara.
Plastic recovered from Henderson identified by country;
Australia, Chile, China, Columbia, Croatia, Denmark, England, Ecuador, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam.
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Scientific Research:
To read about the research conducted on Henderson Island during this expedition by Dr Jenn Lavers and Dr Alex Bond, please click on the title below;
Entrapment in plastic debris endangers hermit crabs
Journal of Hazardous Materials, April 2020
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*Survey carried out on September 21st 2019 by Break Free From Plastic with 72,541 volunteers to find out which brands appeared most frequently in the waste they collected.
(SHELF-LIFE is one of three projects created as part of the Henderson Island Expedition 2019).
