Bottle Top Chain by Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition installed in the Tidal Zone

The Bottle Top Chain installation at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall offers a striking visualisation of this environmental challenge. Created by Claire Wallerstein in collaboration with the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition, this colourful artwork is made from over 65,000 plastic bottle tops. Every single cap was collected by volunteers from beaches across Cornwall.

Pictured here standing in front of the installation are (l-r) Russell Arnott, Director of Incredible Oceans, Claire Wallerstein of Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition, and Stuart Slade, Head of Public Programming at NMMC.

From Beach Litter to Public Art

The original chain stretched over one kilometre long, creating a powerful physical representation of the scale of plastic waste affecting our marine environment. Each bottle top in the installation represents a small piece of a much larger problem: in the UK alone, more than 35 million plastic bottles are discarded every single day. Despite recycling efforts, only a minority of these bottles are actually recycled, with countless caps making their way into our oceans and onto our shores.

Working with Incredible Oceans, Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition installed the Bottle Top Chain at the Telegraph Outdoor Travel Show at London’s ExCeL in 2017, and used it at the World Travel Market in Utrecht. Incredible Oceans director Russell Arnott highlighted that “it’s well travelled and has been great at raising awareness about ocean plastic”.

A Community Effort

This installation wouldn’t exist without the dedicated work of beach cleaning groups from the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition. These volunteers remove hundreds of tonnes of harmful marine litter from Cornwall’s coastline annually, protecting wildlife and preserving the beauty of our coastal environment.

The Bottle Top Chain stands as both a testament to their efforts and a call to action. It asks us to consider the everyday choices we make and their impact.

Acknowledgements

Created by Claire Wallerstein with thanks to Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition beach cleaning groups across Cornwall, and to Jed and Ann Lewis of Rame Peninsula Beach Care for their installation support.