Have you ever pondered the amazing sculptures at The Washed Ashore Project and thought, “Gee, I wonder how they do that?”
Recently four Norwex Leaders and I were privileged to journey to Bandon, a quaint little town nestled on the scenic Oregon coastline, to find out. There, we visited the Washed Ashore studio and met Angela Haseltine Pozzi, the creative genius with a passion for inspiring others to help stem the tide of plastic pollution.
If you haven’t heard of The Washed Ashore Project, it’s a non-profit, community-based organization that Angela started to create awareness about marine debris and plastic pollution through art. The good folks at Washed Ashore, along with thousands of volunteers annually, literally turn beach trash into treasure.
During our stay, Angela gave us a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create massive sculptures of sea animals completely from marine debris. We also got to put some of the finishing touches on our own Norwex Leaping Salmon, which will be revealed in all its glory later this month and then it will go on tour to help promote the important mission of Washed Ashore.
Check out the photos below for a hint of all the fun we had over our three days in Bandon. And a heartfelt, “Thank you Angela!” for showing us all such a wonderful time—and for all that you and everyone at Washed Ashore are doing to save the sea through your amazing art.
Have you ever helped turn trash into treasure? We’d love to hear about it! Just leave us a comment below.
I lead the girls group in my church. One of the special achievements they can earn is in recycling. I used this as a theme for the year and every time we made a craft or worked on a project it was with this theme in mind. You can make some really cool stuff with trash!
Amy, that’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing your passion to turn trash into treasure—and especially for helping the next generation to come on board! You’re making a big difference in this world!
As Craft Coordinator for our church group for almost 20 years, we turned many cans, empty bleach bottles, wine bottles, scrap materials, etc. into crafts for our Christmas Bazaar. It was amazing to see the treasures we came up with, using items that would normally be discarded or recycled!
I have had so much fun watching Washed Ashore this year since being introduced to them last year at The Norwex Conference. It’s an amazing organization, and I love how they use the traveling sculptures to help educate people all over the country about the problem with plastic in our oceans!
Jen, we totally agree. Washed Ashore is an amazing organization and their sculptures are so creative! In fact the latest one, our very own Norwex Leaping Salmon, will be making its debut tonight in Minneapolis. We couldn’t be more pleased and excited to help spread awareness about the growing problem of plastic pollution.
Another cool place I want to visit. I recycle, repurpose and reuse products in my handmade business all the time.
Worked with grandchildren teaching the benefits and fun of recycling. How they feel accomplishment in sharing with friends and a since of pride when making something better.
I have not purchased greeting/holiday cards in about 5 years, I use old card fronts and recycle them onto recycled paper and add my own variations of reused items to enhance the card along with my own message/greeting. Rather than buy a brand new card or box of cards, I have created a new work of art for holidays and birthdays. My family has gotten used to this and looks forward to seeing if they accidentally get their card back with a renewed look. I guess it is like the fruitcake of cards, just keeps getting passed around.
The fruitcake of cards! What a great gift! Thank you for sharing your fun idea with us, Kristen.
I really loved seeing all the beautiful art created by the washed ashore project, it still shocks me how much trash there is everywhere! We have been very vigilant in our efforts of recycling and I hope that one day everyone will. Its sad to hear people say things like, meh I don’t have time for that, or who cares 🙁
This would be great to take part in or get together neighbors to help pick up the local beach.
This isn’t too far from where my mother in law lives… maybe I could stop by and say hi?!?!?! (Not even joking…)