Newport Aquarium has unveiled a massive sea turtle sculpture built entirely from 140 pounds of recycled plastic and materials destined for landfills.
The 8-foot by 9.5-foot sculpture was handcrafted by students with dyslexia, ADHD, or executive functioning challenges from Springer School and Center, in partnership with the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub.
Recycled materials such as metal scraps, CDs, egg cartons, pool noodles, and plastic waste helped make the sculpture, which sits in the lobby of the aquarium.
Community Partnership
The sculpture was created to celebrate the start of the aquarium’s new Seas the Summer Festival, which began on July 3 and runs through August 30.
According to Rebecca Foster, executive director of Newport Aquarium, the project is a great example of community partnership and conservation.
‘What’s powerful about this project is that three very different organizations saw the exact same opportunity,’ Foster said. ‘Springer saw a chance to engage their students in something meaningful. Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub saw a way to show what their work actually enables. And we saw a way to bring that mission to life for every guest who walks through the doors of Newport Aquarium. That’s the heart of conservation, when we stop working in silos and start working together.’
Original reporting: WLWT Cincinnati — read the source article.
