Throwaway water bottles inspire Saudi female artist

FATIMA MUHAMMAD SAUDI GAZETTE JEDDAH — Three big fish made out of water bottles that divers took out of the Red Sea as well as piles of bottles abandoned at different sites drew the attention of many visitors of the Red Sea Mall in Jeddah Thursday. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, artist Fatima Baazeem said she got the idea of her project from the great amount of plastic bottles that are thrown out in different locations at the Corniche. Baazeem has shown an interest in using recycled materials in different children's art workshops since 2000. According to a study issued by the Arab League, Arab states are losing some $5 billion annually due to the absence of recycling. The amount of waste generated annually in these states is estimates at 89.6 million tons, including 14.3 tons of paper, 1.8 tons of iron and 75,000 tons of plastic, Baazeem said. She said a study on the use of plastic bottles in one of the popular malls in Jeddah has found that visitors consume over 130,000 bottles each month. "If we assume that 10 percent of the 1.6 million visitors to malls are drinking water in bottles, then we can easily make a city out of all those abandoned bottles, not just a fish!," Baazeem said. The exhibition, held on the occasion of the International Earth Day, has drawn a large number of visitors, particularly children. "We have some coloring activities for children and posters exposing them to the danger of plastic bottles so we can inculcate in them social responsibility at an early age," Baazeem said. "Why don't we love our sea and protect it? Plastic needs hundreds of years to decompose. Each year volunteer divers draw out tons of waste from the water and these wastes are harmful to the corals." According to Baazeem, representatives of Jeddah Municipality have visited the event and supported its mission. She called on the municipality to move the gigantic fish from the mall to the beach so everyone would see it and that would create more awareness among them. The event was inaugurated in the presence of Hani Abu Ras, mayor of Jeddah. The deputy mayor for services at the municipality, Ahman Al-Muhanbi, said the municipality supported events that aim at increasing environmental awareness among the people of Jeddah and its visitors. The municipality, he noted, has selected eight districts where they implemented a recycling strategy. The municipality provided garbage cans that have three categories, each specified for a particular waste type, so that the collected garbage can be sent for recycling.