He or she would work directly with the founders of Trashpatch.org, a do-tank dedicated to raising awareness of plastic pollution in the environment through art and design, with Agent Of Change (AOC), a company that produces major events in NYC, and with the Plastic Pollution Coalition, an global organization fighting plastic pollution. This position will include interacting with heads of organizations as well as volunteers.

Tasks:

• expand the network of the Plastic Pollution Coalition via social media, press releases, meetings and public events;
• collaborate with local organizations;
• research and navigate the multilayered network of the City of New York and its laws and regulations;
• work to convey environmental messages

The intern will be able to work towards his or her strengths and any unique attributes he or she brings to the job; while many tasks are defined in advance, the position is also flexible to accommodate innovation.

Desirable Skills and Qualifications:

• experience, interest, or other commitment to the environment or social justice, especially plastic pollution;
• excellent interpersonal and communications skills, both written and verbal;
• social media skills;
• website development and design;
• other computer skills, including web research, word processing, presentation software;
• resides in NYC or surrounding area

Dates:

The intern would work through the Fall semester with possible extension to April 2012, 5-10 hours a week. Start date is somewhat flexible. This is an unpaid position.

Please send a CV and cover letter to Manuel Mansylla at manman@plasticpollutioncoalition.org

Following are a few photos of the work:

For years Dianna’s medium was discarded brightly colored plastic bags. As she saw how they slowly broke down in her artwork, she realized how they were breaking down and polluting the environment. Her education inspired her motivation to make a difference. She quickly learned that cleaning up the gyres is not the answer—it’s a drop in the bucket. The real solution is to turn off the faucet—to stop the rushing flow of plastic pollution we are all creating every day.

She stresses that the plastic pollution that is in the middle of the ocean starts very close to home. “I’m concerned about the gyre of plastic in the supermarket,” she said. She points out that nearly everything we eat is packaged in plastic. It’s what we do in our daily life that can put an end to horrors like the gyres of plastic in the ocean. This is why the Plastic Pollution Coalition has launched the REFUSE campaign. Reduce, reuse, recycle isn’t enough—for us to really get control of plastic pollution, we all need to REFUSE disposable plastic!

“It’s a problem we created,” says Dianna. “It’s a problem we can solve.” Be inspired by her video on TED, then sign the REFUSE pledge yourself and tune in on Nov. 6 when TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch will be Livestreamed from Santa Monica, CA.

How can you not wax nostalgic finding a Monopoly piece amongst the tons of plastic washing ashore? A little green house, instantly recognizable—a poignant reminder of summer days spent in fierce economic battle with your bandit-mogul buddies. The fake bills tucked under the board. The property deeds lined up, waiting to get all the Yellows…waiting for Marvin Gardens. The lowly Baltic Avenue, the posh Park Place. Phrases high on the cliché list—“Get out of jail, free”…”Do not pass Go”…Agony, ecstasy, domination and loss. And how can you not recall that the game was first mass-marketed in the depth of economic crisis? 1935.

A quick web search reveals that Socialists first used the game as a teaching tool early in the 20th Century. First called The Landlord’s Game to show the ravages of unfettered Capitalism—a pleasant surprise to find it was used back then by Scott Nearing. Who, in the 50’s, with his wife Helen, authored Living the Good Life, a dog-eared copy of which lived on my night stand. The Nearings became the gurus of the 60’s back-to-the-land movement, something I took on as a personal mission in a lasting enthusiasm.

And when did the neat little painted wood houses and hotels change to be made of plastic, a development that made the game cheaper to make? Then again, is plastic really cheaper? What are the real costs of plastic? Who will bear these costs? Finally, and a happier consideration, that the unequivocal mystery of mind reveals itself in all these thoughts materializing out of a tiny bit of plastic marine pollution? Washed up on Kehoe Beach.

~ Richard Lang

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Atists Judith Selby and Richard Lang have been collecting plastic pollution from Kehoe Beach for 10 years and making art with it.  More information on their Website http://www.beachplastic.com/

Gorgeous Kehoe Beach is located 40 miles north of San Francisco in Point Reyes National Seashore . See Kehoe Beach on BlooSee satellite imagery here

At Kehoe Beach, turning right to the north, we find the customary tangle of plastic and wrack. For variety we decide to head south across Kehoe Creek, flowing out through the sand, and onto Ten Mile Beach.

The beach is blissfully clean here; the big waves have carried much of the plastic back out to sea. It’s a great relief to walk and not feel the compulsion to focus down and sort through a bunch of junk. We walk for a few hundred yards and then our preoccupation with getting to work has us turning back north where there’s plenty to pick through. Our habitual lean is toward gleaning stuff to tell the plastic debris story. A kind of shopping. Today we decide to make a valentine for our ourselves and our friends. All that red was gathered in fifteen minutes. Happy Valentine’s y’all.

Artists Judith Selby and Richard Lang have been collecting plastic pollution from Kehoe Beach for 10 years and making art with it.  More information on their Website http://www.beachplastic.com/

Gorgeous Kehoe Beach is located 40 miles north of San Francisco in Point Reyes National Seashore . See Kehoe Beach on BlooSee satellite imagery here

Trained at UCLA, Dianna Cohen has been making art with plastic bags for over 20 years. Along this personal and artistic journey, Dianna’s own relation with plastic has evolved in a way she describes with subtle irony and humor: “I started to get the message in my own art”.

Art can tell complex stories in a direct and compelling way that touches our hearts. That’s why we at the Plastic Pollution Coalition believe art is one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal to raise awareness on environmental problems in general, and on plastic pollution in particular.

Read Beth Terry’s article on Dianna Cohen here.

To learn more about Dianna Cohen’s art visit her website www.DiannaCohen.com.

Photo: Beth Terry