Issue link: https://takingitglobal.uberflip.com/i/1131811
new, different, and complex ways that the real interact with the imaginary. It makes you (re)consider what you could do/ change/ create in real life. It can break open a gate, or a path, that leads to a better future. "All art speaks in signs and symbols. No one can explain how it happens that the artist can waken to life in us the existence that he has seen and lives through. No artistic speech is the adequate expression of what it represents; its vital force comes from what is unspoken in it." Albert Schweitzer, Reverence for Life. Douglas Coupland created an art exhibition called Vortex, with physical pieces of all the plastics he found at the ocean. It is currently installed at the Vancouver Aquarium. Douglas Coupland started his plastic art from a colourful bottle found in Japan. He bought cases upon cases of these bottles and shipped them to Canada to make art. He then went to Haida Gwaii, a coastal inlet near Vancouver. On the beaches of Haida Gwaii he found the very same type of bottle that he made his art from. This bottle came to the beach from Japan's tidal wave. There were plastic bottles, straws, wrappers, writing instruments, toothbrush etc. He even created four figure sculptures and birds, which gave a realistic impression to the people. His art gives the community an opportunity to have an emotional understanding with the problem in a way that lectures and statistics can't. We can take initiative in our own communities to build art pieces that demonstrate this problem. Art comes in many different mediums and by utilizing these mediums we can reach a larger audience. Art is one of the most powerful tools we have in society to convey a message. By using it in our approach to plastics awareness and action, we may encourage people to think about pollution in a new way. Finally, art engages an emotional response from the community, connecting individuals together to find a solution to the problem. The beauty, elegance, and harsh reality of his art (and all art) moves people in a way that other knowledge forms may not. Communities can be a part of movements like this through craft fairs, art contests, or even art shows. These events, these ideas, bring people together and form bonds, and through the bonds comes a solution. Art is a great example of how small things can make big differences. Social Media We want to expand the reach of our communication across and throughout the country. The use of social media as a platform for discussion and promotion has the potential of