The Plastic Fish Tower is specifically meant for the reduction of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, instead, of marine life. Floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii, this huge accumulation of generally minute bits of the world’s plastic debris is twice the size of Texas. Ocean currents bring tons of useless plastic and other waste, creating the garbage vortex. The Plastic Fish Tower is designed to gather and recycle the plastic debris by using a circular floating barrier that creates a 1.2-mile (1-kilometer) circle around the sphere. The fence is kept at its place by the extended arms installed at the bottom. The Plastic Fish Tower has been designed and illustrated by Kim Hongseop/Cho Hyunbeom/Yoon Sunhee/Yoon Hyungsoo, eVolo.
Beijing-based artist Wang Zhiyuan helps us visualize what a whirlwind of trash, ascending into the air would look like in his piece entitled Thrown to the Wind. Zhiyuan's larger-than-life tornado of plastic waste, which stands 36-feet high, represents the heaps of trash that overwhelm his hometown and its surrounding environment. The gigantic trash tower really puts the overbearing toll of the waste problem into perspective. It seems cool and colorful at first, but Zhiyuan has an underlying message to evoke a discussion by garnering attention to the problem. The artist says, “I want my art to be about something bigger than me. If it wasn’t involved in society I would feel guilty.”