The first sight greeting attendees to this year’s ICAST convention was a 9-foot marlin stationed outside the main exhibit hall. It was a replica made by Costa, but there was something unusual about it. Costa is famous for their ads featuring fish made of the company’s sunglasses, but this one wasn’t the same. Instead, it featured plastic removed from beaches.

The sculpture was made from trash that washed ashore along the Pacific coast. Costa commissioned the artwork from Washed Ashore, a non-profit working to create awareness about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. The marlin is the embodiment of Costa’s efforts to reduce pollution across the world, starting with itself.

Costa’s employees are making changes to their behavior to encourage others to do the same. Staff are cutting out plastic bottles, using 50 percent recycled plastic and 50 percent organic material in their t-shirts, and working to reduce plastic in their packaging. Costa’s sunglasses may soon use recycled plastics in their construction as well.

According to Costa, plastic kills one million sea birds each year. Humans throw away 200 billion plastic bottles each year, with the US accounting for 35 billion of those. More than two-thirds of fish now test positive for plastics.

Check out this video showing the “beautiful but disgusting” marlin’s creation, and visit Costa’s website for more information on their Kick Plastic campaign.


The Making of a Marlin: Costa Sunglasses and Washed Ashore by Costa via YouTube

 

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