Tidal Wave of Trash

As the 2011 Huntington Beach Independence Day Parade marks the completion date for our Tidal Wave of Trash, we wanted to post some of the more finalized photo versions of the wave.

We are in need some some weatherproofing ideas to seal the outside of the wave to withstand the elements.

The Refurbished Rubbish girls can be reached at   refurbishedrubbish@gmail.com



Now that the parade is behind us, we have many plans in store for the wave. After seeing the reaction and receiving such positive feedback on the impact of the wave, we know that there is a lot in store for us. We are very gracious for all of the help friends and family have put into this with us, and we can't wait to keep this up.

These scupltures are not only no impact, but negative impact. With this form of art we are not only removing this waste from our earth but turning it into an influential example of how important it is to change the way we see trash, how we dispose of it, how much of it is out there, and how badly it needs to be removed from nature.

It is a long road ahead of us, but we're doing our best to make our mark.

Once again, artists Tierney Moses and Hannah Cosner can be reached at refurbishedrubbish@gmail.com

Thank you and stay in touch! We're all in this together!

Over 1,300

One of the items of trash that was very repetitive in the sorting of trash was bottle caps.  Many recognizable drinks such as Gatorade, Dasani, and CocaCola just to name a few.  We have collected over 1,300 caps total!  Please remember to toss your bottle and caps in the proper bins.   

PRESS

The Tidal Wave of Trash as opened many eyes and made it to the cover of the Huntington Beach Independent.  We are also in the LA Times, and made the 10 o'clock news on KTLA5 News station.  Hope everyone in the local area got to the photos and article.  Here are the images used in the article and a link to its page, hbindependent

Fourth of July Parade

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!  We would like to thank Farmers & Merchants bank for sponsoring our float entry at the Huntington Beach 4th of July Parade.  We are excited to announce our first place award as well!  We had wonderful volunteers walking the entire parade picking up trash along the way to help promote our Rise Against Plastic cause and we'd like to give thanks for their efforts.  

We had an amazing reaction from the crowd as we drove by and feel we have reached out to many during this parade.  If anyone has any photos taken from the crowd please email them to refurbishedrubbish@gmail.com.

Working late July 3rd to prepare the float

Our amazing volunteers walking the entire parade picking up trash along the way

 Surfrider team and Farmer & Merchants Bank team

 First Place Award for Service Category

from left to right: Tierney Moses, Tony Soriano, Hannah Cosner

Its Growing!

As litter continues to delicately pile onto the "Tidal Wave of Trash" it is slowly beginning to look more and more like the real-deal.

Here are progress photos of the wave in different lighting. Its been a very slow process sewing the garbage on, but as it builds it becomes clearer and clearer that our efforts are worthwhile. The trash seems to float on the structure, and the directional angles that the bits are placed are giving it a nice upward motion, as though the pollution is being sucked up into the curl.

We are gradually filling in the holes. We have tried to evenly space the blue and green assortments but wanted to make sure the inside was focused on the most so that the viewer will get a strong representation of our cause by walking through the barrel. 

Here is the back of the wave in a more primary stage. You can see the color gradient we are forming by placing darker colors on the bottom and having the value gradually shift to lighter tones as it moves up into the white water. 

Since our greens and blues are starting to become scarce, we have decided to incorporate the large pile of black that we have separated. Adding the black is of course darkening the wave, but in turn it is giving it this grimace mood that is starting to give it a very daunting appearance. This is starting to neutralize the appearance of the color so that it does not become too cartoonish or psychedelic.

Along with blacks we are incorporating a lot of our silvers and more reflective materials onto the back of the wave so that it will shine brightly in the sun when the light catches it. This will imitate the natural effects of a wave as the ripples on the back of the wave sparkle in the sunlight.

Being our first project of this kind, we are often recognizing things we wished we had done differently or different approaches to take. If time had allowed it, it would have been nice to have hyper-sorted the colors by value and intensity and laid it out as a puzzle of sorts to basically "paint" with varieties of colored trash. That would have taken much more time than we could afford though, its crunch time as it is. There are 5 work days left until the parade!

Regardless of what we missed out on doing for this sculpture, knowing how much room for improvement there is has acted as a fiery motivation to start another project after this one. Its exciting to see how naturally devoted and immersed in this project we are. Though our studio looks like a garbage dump, we constantly compare ourselves to Charlie Brown's Pig Pen due to the flies that we have discovered fancy us after a long days work, and my dreams have even been consumed with a mixture of trash an needle nightmares, it feels good. It feels darn good. 

We feel like we are doing something worthwhile, utilizing our talents to do our part in the preservation of the planet. Every friend that has lent a hand to sew on some trash always seems to walk away with the same feeling. We are creating and involved with something powerful, disgusting, and beautiful. 

More progress photos to come soon.

Feel free to leave us comments and do share any advice!

Updates on the Wave.

We have some news with the 2011 Independence Day Parade in Huntington Beach.

Uhaul has donated us a box truck to transport the wave and a flatbed truck to carry it in the wave. We will be having volunteers and guests of Surfrider add the final touches of the "beach" onto the trailer the day before the wave.

We have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by Farmers & Merchants Bank for entry into this years parade.

We will be marketing with Surfrider with an emphasis on their "Rise Against Plastic" campaign. There will be kids dressed up as "bag monsters" in which they where a suit covered head to toe in plastic bags. The Huntington Beach Boyscouts will also be following our float with trash claws picking up any trash that the parade has left behind, an extra bonus to the environment.

Here is the banner that will be carries in front of our float on the 4th starting at 10 am on Main St in Huntington Beach

Below is the announcement that will be made as we pass by the parade booth, put together by Emily Lewis, Marketing Department from F&M Bank

"Nothing captures the spirit of the great coastal city of Huntington Beach like an ocean wave.

Unfortunately, however, our picturesque shoreline is too often littered with empty containers, abandoned plastic bottles and other rubbish.  Beautiful ocean waves no longer crash against a pristine coastline in Huntington Beach – and elsewhere.

But with the help of the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of our oceans, lands and beaches, public awareness is growing when it comes to the pervasive effects of plastics and other discarded items on our shoreline.

And now, Farmers & Merchants Bank, an organization that stands firmly behind its belief in green practices and sustainability, is honored to sponsor the Huntington Beach/Seal Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation in presenting this inspiring, one-of-a-kind sculpture created by artists Hannah Cosner and Tierney Moses.

Not only embodying the iconic city of Huntington Beach, but also reminding beachgoers of the need to recycle and properly dispose of garbage, the “Tidal Wave of Trash” sculpture is the byproduct of Andre Faubert’s 30/30 experiment in which he collected litter from the coastline of Huntington Beach for one hour a day, 30 days straight - collecting nearly 600 pounds of garbage.  If the “Tidal Wave of Trash” represents the work of one man in 30 days, think of what we could accomplish together if each of us were to make the same commitment.

F&M supports the Huntington Beach/Seal  Beach Surfrider Foundation and salutes the organization in its mission to raise awareness of the harmful effects of beachside litter.

Please join F&M in reducing the amount of plastic consumed daily and remember to visit the Huntington Beach/Seal Beach Surfrider Foundation online at www.hbsurfrider.org.  You can also visit the new Farmers & Merchants Bank website at www.fmb.com."

Come out and see us in the largest Independence Day parade on the West Coast this 4th of July! 

See you there!!!

The Tidal Wave of Trash

Hello again!

We have some very exciting developments with the wave. We found a name for it! Andre has deemed the trash monster, "the Tidal Wave of Trash." We feel really happy with this name. It represents its nature very strongly, giving it an easily recognizable title with a very new concept behind it.

Today we were interviewed by the Huntington Independent newspaper. Their article should be released around Thursday, we'll post newspaper examples up once we receive a copy.

We have been adding a lot of color to the wave. It feels really good to see it develop. The evolution of the sculpture seems to be forming so naturally. Still, any problems we seem to run into are easily figured out, and are often far less of a problem than we assumed, sometimes even a happy accident.

Here are a couple examples of our first layers at more of a close up view. We are finding so many of the same items over and over. It seems like there are thousands of bottle caps and straws, along with tons of Starbucks cups, plastic water bottles, and Capri Sun juice packs. It really makes us wonder why with all of our knowledge and technology to create plant-based, biodegradable materials that those resourses have yet to be utilized with these major companies.

Here is an up-close view of some of the whitewash we have sewn onto the chicken wire.

Here we are starting to add color to the back of the wave by sewing on the blue and green trash to the clear layer we stapled onto the wooden base.

Its amazing how familiar all of these materials we are working with are to us. We have consumed and used most all of the items we are working with. Its crazy to be so engulfed by the items we see everyday, but its sicken to know that it was all found on our precious beaches.

With each piece meticulously sewn on, its starting to feel like an enormous quilt we are creating. Each piece is being placed like a mosaic in order of color and value to stick to the true nature of a real wave.