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CBC News Editors' Blog

From London with Love

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | 10:19 AM ET

By Mike Symington

Mike Symington, a former news camerman, is a technical operator in the CBC's London bureau.

The sixth annual Love London, Love your Planet festival just opened in London, U.K., beginning a month-long series of think globally, act locally eco-projects. The idea is to promote a greener and more sustainable London with more than 150 events planned throughout June.

The London Zoo is the venue for the Recycled Sculpture Show, exhibiting the work of 21 local and international artists related to the theme of recycling.

One of them is Canadian artist Ron den Daas, whose exhibit can be seen in the abandoned Lubetkin penguin pool. He spent three months creating his work, which is entitled Food Chain 2008, mass produced plastic milk jugs, each painted with an aquatic species, to form a metaphoric tidal pool. It's a stark reminder of the imprint man has left on the world's maritime environment.

Artist Ron den Daas

Vancouver born and educated, den Daas hopes to convey man's relationship with maritime ecosystems and pollution.

"Since the Second World War, there has been a lot of development in oil and gas and plastics and those plastics are being consumed in a massive way, so we find islands of plastic products in oceans and coastlines strewn with plastic debris and we must do something about it," den Daas explains.

Working with the B.C. salmon enhancement project, den Daas witnessed firsthand the effects of development on aquatic species along the B.C. coast and Burrard Inlet.

"There's been a huge collapse in the coho [salmon] numbers this year and we don't know why, but even with all the development there, I was amazed to see the creeks teeming with life and so there is hope," he says.

According to den Daas, modern industrial products make an intriguing canvas.

"I've also done paintings on car hoods and like milk jugs, they're a beautiful thing to paint on, very slick, it's very industrial. They are technological wonders that will last for hundreds of years. That's what nature is up against, but it's resilient and powerful. We just have to find a way to configure our lives not to interfere."

Easy to say, much tougher to practice den Daas says. "When plastics and petrochemicals are a big part of modern life … much of this material ends up in the watershed."

den Daas' milk jugs

Recycling is just part of the solution and by exhibiting thought provoking eco-sculptures around the world, den Daas hopes to raise awareness about the need to protect fragile ecosystems and encourage recycling and the use of eco-friendly materials.

"We have to realize that 40 years ago most of these plastics didn't exist, for instance milk was in glass bottles, and letting go of some of this won't hurt us, in fact, our quality of life would improve."

The Love London fest continues until June 30 with art and events throughout the city.

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