cyprus cultural events - Jan 15 - Not Trash but Turtle

Heidi Trautmann

Jan 15 - Not Trash but Turtle - Event at the Alagadi Beach 1/7/2011 A beach, a winter day, hot chocolate, many people with good intentions, warm smile and lots of TRASH… Take these all, keep them together for a day, and here is a big TURTLE. How? Pretty easy, let us explain: For two weeks, we save the recyclable materials at home. Then, we add these materials to the collected ones on the Alagadi Beach on 15.1.2011. A turtle model designed by our architect friends would then have the starting materiel to be built up. To continue, under the guidance of valuable artists, we assemble the trash - knowing that it is no longer trash, but a turtle-to-be along with all the messages it conveys. At the end of the day, on the beach, we leave THE TURTLE (3X3m) made up of recycled materials collected from home and the beach, staple, glue, human energy and effort, lots of fun, and unforgettable memories, meaning, a “MASTERPIECE”, a “WALKING PANCARTE”, a “SYMBOL”… Our message is clear: Not every trash is trash, but sources to be reactivated in different forms. Yet, the leftover on the Alagadi Beach is not only causing environmental pollution and disturbing our view, it is also a big survival threat for the caretta carettas which come to the beach- their sole habitation, to lay eggs every year. Our aim is clear: Bringing another viewpoint to a daily issue - recycling, and with the symbolic turtle, making people hesitate to treat the beach as the rubbish dump. The overall aim is to raise social awareness and sensibility. Note: While building up the turtle statue, to make it long-lasting, the materials to be used are limited to the following: - Carton box - Plastic bottle - Metal (tin can, etc.) - Paper (newspaper, magazine, etc.) Exception: Despite the fact that glass and some cutting metals are recyclable materials, they are excluded from the project for the safety reasons. For further information about the recyclable materials: http://www.obviously.com/recycle/guides/common.html Hope to see you there.