Portland Community College (Sylvania Campus) hosted the Washed Ashore exhibit – a “project [that] aims to educate and create awareness about marine debris and plastic pollution through art” – from April to June 2011. Patrick and I headed to PCC on a bus one afternoon to take a look. All the various sculptures of ocean wildlife and structures were constucted purely from trash washed up on the Oregon coast, in, if I remember correctly, during a six month period. I would never have guessed that much debris comes in. Seriously?
Here are some pictures:
exploreportlandnature.wordpress.com 
I love the whale bones. What a wonderful/educational/powerful exhibit. We saw a much smaller scale plastic bottle dolphin at the Aquarium of the Pacific this week and the 6-year-old was enthralled.
That’s awesome, Debi. Hopefully seeing these sticks in their heads and as they grow up they think about the plastic they use. I can’t stand to see plastic bottles in a garbage can when a recycling bin is within 5 feet!
Wow, this is astonishing! Sorry I missed it, but I’m glad to have an opportunity to see your photos.
Thanks, Patricia!
This has to be one of the most imaginative and artistic representations of ocean waste I’ve ever seen. Thanks for sharing!
Agreed!