Why would you roll a huge ball of trash through Skopje? Well, there can be multiple reasons, and one of them is to raise awareness of recycling and waste in a form of art performance. Art can be a powerful tool to raise awareness about waste and environmental problems. 

Cecilia (Cee) Martens and Holger Maik Mertin are a good example of rising awareness via art. Holger is a German sound and movement artist and activist in sustainability, and Cee is a photographer, filmer and travel writer born in South-Africa. While traveling around the world they implemented a part of their project ‘’two artists, one planet’’ in Skopje, along with their friendly and welcoming atmosphere they created.

Among the other cool stuff and their projects they did in Skopje, one of them was ‘’Clean(sing) Skopje”. Over a 100 kg heavy ball made out of trash. The point of this ball was, first of all, to be an art performance. A way to raise awareness about the trash humans create, and to point out that something should be done about it. Together with local organizations like Za Pochista Makedonjia, Goethe Institute and Volunteers Centre Skopje, they collected a good amount of trash and turned it into an art piece. Some of the trash used was donated, some collected. All of it was squeezed into a tight pack, forming a ball about 2 meters tall. One part of the performance was also sound. It was created by the ball itself, from the trash crushing against the ground, and little pieces of trash were made into creative instruments to make some noise. Not to forget the people that were participating!

The ball was then rolled through the streets of Skopje to raise awareness. Which worked. People from restaurants and cafes that the ball passed by gave us confused, though interested looks. We could see people wondering what’s going on and taking pictures. Some jumped in to participate and helped to roll and to walk with the group. And as a cycle, after the presentation, the ball was broken apart and the materials were recycled once again.

By raising awareness about waste, we empower individuals, communities and organizations to take responsibility for their waste footprint and participate in creating a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable world.

‘’Around 380 million metric tons of plastic are produced in the world each year. Millions of tons of this unfortunately end up in the ocean. In Macedonia that number is approximately 394 kg per capita per year. ‘’

‘’Annually, 2.12 billion tons of waste is produced across the world. Of that waste, 1.3 billion tons is made up of food. That’s over three trillion meals each year wasted, approximately one-third of all food generated for human consumption.’’

‘’At least 33% of the planet’s waste is not managed in an environmentally safe way.’’

‘’Landfilling is the primary method of waste disposal in Macedonia, with approximately 96% of waste being landfilled.’’

‘’In 2019, Macedonia generated approximately 1.43 million metric tons of municipal solid waste.’’

Taika Soihtu

Sources:

Our World in Data – Plastic Pollution

Science Advances – Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made

Science – Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

United Nations Environment Programme – Integrated National Waste Management: Assessment for the Republic of North Macedonia, 2019

Meuresiduo – How Much Do We Waste? A Data-Driven Guide to Waste and Landfills