The Story of a Blue Nurdle

So I was walking around Aker Brygge and checking out this scene:

When something small, perfectly circular, and blue caught my eye…..

You guessed it, NURDLE SIGHTING!!

So when I say they are tiny pollutants, it is the honest truth. I mean look at how small this plastic pellet is! And if you are wondering if I took it, you know me well. Of course I pocketed it and then proceeded to tell everyone about it and brought it to the lab….

Where I photographed it:

And took an FTIR scan of it:

Fourier-Transform InfraRed spectroscopy is a technique to use infrared radiation to decipher the molecular structure of chemicals and polymers. Each type of molecular bond has a unique pattern of infrared frequencies it can absorb. These patterns can be used to derive molecular fingerprints. (Hans Peter Arp)

In the lab they use the machine to match particles to a library of known plastics. The back line is the fingerprint of the blue nurdle, the red line is polyethylene. Turns out this vibrant blue pellet is a match for polyethylene low density and polyethylene high density.

Sundays and Mondays are for cleanin'

35mm Pano Camera

I get asked a lot what kind of equipment I use. It is a very common question in the photo community, and I can totally geek out over gear if I really want to (I’m looking at you Hasselblad!). But sometimes your cameras break… and you can’t get them fixed in another country… (I’m still looking at you Hasselblad….) and you find joy in the simplest of equipment: a point and shoot panoramic film camera. I find it ironic that one of my favorite tools has been a plastic (yes I said plastic) camera that was made in the ‘80s. It is special to me, as I inherited it from my grams before I left the States. It fits perfectly in any bag, even has a little wrist band attached, and again is plastic so the odds of hurting it is pretty low : perfect on-the-go travel camera. Oh and I have to mention the old fashioned film crank sound that happens when advancing the film… its just like you remember with the disposable ones, that satisfactory riiiiiip riiiiiip riiiiiiiip sound to signal to everyone that yes indeed I just took a picture (and no you can’t see it, you will have to wait until I remember to develop it….). I have been using mostly expired film with some fresh rolls mixed in and thought I would share a few of the snaps from the past month:

World Ocean's Day!

Oh such a favorite day for me! Well really I consider every day to be ocean day BUT a day devoted to celebrating and talking about the ocean world wide feels extra special. I am taking the day to make and look at images that remind me of why I want to work in ocean/pollution advocacy.

I love the feeling of the vastness that exists where the water and sky meet:

I love the unpredictability of the ocean, you can never have the same light, color, and movement of the water:

And there’s the moments that bring me back to being a kid, exploring the rocks and tide pools at the shoreline:

And the seaweed! The GLORIOUS seaweed! :

So whatever your plans are today, I hope that you can wave at the ocean and say hi. And if that’s not in the cards, then look at some pretty pictures or videos of the water and the creatures that live there (may I suggest one of my favorites, a live cam in Florida. Celebrate the ocean by making choices that are sustainable and have positive impacts. Use those reusable cups and utensils (they really do make a difference). Check where the seafood is coming from, is it local? sustainably sourced? what is in season? Remember to really think about the materials you are buying, we all can get by with a little less stuff in our lives. I thank you for doing these things, and most importantly, the ocean thanks you as well! Happy World Ocean’s Day!

Lofoten 2

My last post was about visiting an incredibly beautiful place, but if you follow this blog and my work you know that I can’t just take a pretty picture and move along. Lofoten is stunning, and I honestly was happy to point my camera lens at landscapes and seascapes. But the harsh realty is even in beautiful places, I still make these photographs:

The pollution is everywhere. And I wish I had an uplifting solution to share. But the more I see, experience, and research, the harder it is to navigate a way out of the mess we have created. Recently I was asked how I separate my emotions from my research, how I avoid getting depressed. The truth is I don’t. And honestly, I do get depressed. Part of the power of art is emotion, there really is no separating it for me. I create because I care about the environment and because I need to make photographs. Do I wish I was making work about something else? Sure, sometimes I do. Do I wish climate change wasn’t a reality? Yup, you bet. But climate change is real, and pollution in the environment is overwhelming. And yes, I can make beautiful images of magnificent landscapes in Lofoten (like seen in the last post), but it doesn’t feel like the whole truth to me. The whole truth means a change in perspective. Look down at the soil and sediments beneath your feet. Get low and see the synthetic materials we use interacting with nature. Take time to not only look but actually see the change in the environment around you. This new perspective can certainly be sad and depressing, but it can also be full of hope. Hope of change and of working together. Hope of innovation. And maybe even hope in nature itself.

Lofoten

Last week I traveled up north. The experience of being in a place as beautiful and intense as Lofoten is life changing.

yes the water in Lofoten is truly the color of Caribbean waters!

The landscape is an artist’s dream, the mountains certainly do meet the ocean in an incredibly dramatic way, and the weather can change in minutes. It is a place that reminds you to be present. Be calm. Be accepting of the moment you are in both mentally and physically.

I met locals and I met travelers from other countries. It feels like people are starting to emerge on the other side from the pandemic years. Now able to travel we are sharing our lives with each other again; we are exchanging experiences, having conversations over drinks, food and culture, and it is inspiring. Here are a few images from that very special time up north:

and sometimes you can catch the brave ones “enjoying” a swim in the spring waters

Earth Day

Its April 22, 2022, which means its Earth Day!

However full disclosure, I believe every day is earth day. I am currently sitting on a train en route to visit a Fulbright friend and I find myself reflecting on what this day means to me. I keep coming back to “earth day” being a mindset. It is the values and principles you carry throughout your day-to-day life. April 22 itself acts as a reminder, a day to check in, and for us to talk about, share, and inspire one another to do better for our planet. This is a time for compassion and empathy but also for innovation and solutions. Consider the day as an opportunity of reflection but also of action. Even if it is one small effort: a pledge to no more plastic bottles or bags, a contribution to a clean-up group (whether participation or financial), a letter to a government official showing your support for climate protection/action in legislation, starting that garden you’ve been thinking about each year, supporting more local farmers, planting a damn tree, there are options folks! 

Huk Strand, Bygdøy

My Instagram feed is full of earth day posts, and I am loving it! As much as a dislike social media at times, it certainly has its moments of positivity and inspiration. It also allows me to fill in the gaps of a very hazy few years (I’m not the only one who lost track of the past two years right??) and find out what I have been up to on previous earth days…..

On April 22, 2020, I gave my (virtual) thesis presentation. I was able to share the inspiration behind Among the Tides and explain what motivates me as an artist. It was the early days of zoom life and I’m not going to lie I was uncomtorable in front of the screen. It was a very emotionally odd way to celebrate ending my three years as a graduate student…. So to fully celebrate my husband and I went for a beach walk and picked up trash ( he knows the way to my heart for sure!) 

On April 22, 2021, I was hanging out with the amazing Suzie Flores on a boat, harvesting for Stonington Kelp Co. I was lucky enough to cross paths with this fanastic indivudal in 2019 and have been friends ever since. While I was waiting to go on the Fulbright grant to Norway, Suzie invited me to help out with the seaweed farm. The more I learn about seaweed and its benefits for us and the ocean, the more I am hooked on it as a delicious solution for the future. Check out my kelp blog for more on the awesomeness of Stonington Kelp Co. 

And on April 22, 2022, I am on a train, in Norway, working on a book about plastic and nature. It is a collaboration with an environmental chemist and sociologist, and it feels totally right to be working on it right now. The book reveals the not-so hidden reality of pollution in the environment and (hopefully) trains our eyes and minds to see and understand the situation we are in today. 

So, how is your Earth Day 2022 going?

What reflections and thoughts are you having?

What is your call to action on April 22, 2022?  

More nurdles

So you remember those 299 nurdles I mentioned before? Yeah I am still thinking about them and maybe you are too. Its possible that my little obsession led to photographing each individual nurdle with the microscope….. here is a sample of the images:

And if you are curious how I find and collect these teeny tiny plastic bits here is an in-process video :

Plastic Soup

My first free dive experience with the Fjord Clean Up Group has really stuck with me and here’s why:

The pollution is everywhere! Through my research, I have read the term “plastic soup” for a few years, but this was my first time actually experiencing it, swimming through it, and seeing it. It was a reality check for sure. I tried to collect what I could but honestly it felt impossible, the natural and plastic worlds were fused together.

I had been emailing with my friend and fellow plastic pollution fighter Erica Cirino (author of Thicker Than Water) so I shared my experience with her. She emailed back mentioning how sobering it is to see the term “plastic soup” come to life. She also ended the email with a bit of encouragement that I want to share:

“Our world is changing so rapidly. That’s why we gotta keep documenting it!”

I couldn’t agree more with her, but would like to add on to the sentiment: we need to share it as well. This means sharing the responsibility of cleaning up our oceans and lands. This means sharing what we are finding. And this means sharing our skills and ideas for a sustainable future.

A Natural & Plastic Hybrid

The more time I spend in the lab and the more time I spend looking through the microscope, the more apparent it is that plastic pollution is everywhere. It is a really harsh reality that can feel incredibly discouraging but I am trying to understand it through the images I am making and what I am seeing.

After sharing some of my images with the science team, Hans Peter provided feedback in an email that I think hits all the points I have been thinking about and visually exploring in my work:

“The plastic interweaves with the organic matter, the biology grows on the plastic, leading to a potential future where organic matter is forever changed by being a natural+plastic hybrid… Our grandchildren's soil and seabed will no longer be our grandparent's soil and seabed, but something else, maybe benign, maybe very scary – a planetary threat.” - HP

Botanisk Hage & A Norwegian Winter

Norway winters are no joke and I have a whole new understanding to the words cold and dark. The honest truth is I struggled with arriving here during this time. I thought I would be ready to take on the winter as I have lived most of my life in the northeast of the States. I survived many Boston winters which were quite intense and also had struggles (I’m looking at you street parking space savers…). But here’s the thing - I also grew up in Florida. And there’s a side to me that loves heat and humidity. When there is a snow storm up north I get a phone call from my dad (still in FL) quoting: “there’s a reason why birds fly south for the winter Lizzy.” How true that statement feels to me now after one Norwegian winter. Sometimes I would think I was getting the hang of it here. But inevitably I would get smacked in the face with frigid wind, slip on ice, or loose in a game of hide and seek with the sun. Winter days here bring out a lot of curse words and make you wonder why the hell you aren’t somewhere warm and drinking out of a coconut.….

Thankfully, I have a Norwegian friend group that has been unbelievably welcoming and are well versed in surviving winters. With encouragement from these amazing people, I spent a lot of the winter months walking around the Botanisk Hage (botanical gardens). The plants and flowers quietly tucked away in the warmth of the greenhouses gave me hope. Hope for the spring. Hope for the sun. And hope for the winter covid surge to turn a corner. Through my time here, I’ve learned how Norwegians value sunlight (especially in the winter). Even if it is freezing out, you better get outside for a walk and “get the sun on your face” while you can. I am grateful that as a photographer, I have visual representations of my memories and experiences. Looking back through these images I made of the Botanisk Hage, I love seeing how I was chasing the sunlight and following the very wise Norwegian’s advice.

And while the winter was an adjustment, I discovered a new fascination with photographing ice. I also learned how quickly camera batteries drain in the cold….

So here’s to surviving a Norwegian winter and learning things along the way! Next winter though, you better believe that I will be following the birds and flying south, (I will also be drinking out of a damn coconut…. )

Plastic in Compost: 2 (color studies)

notes:

  • zooming in on the plastic makes the images abstract

  • plastic mimicking nature - rips and tears become folds of petals and ripples in water

  • bold to muted color palette - makes me think of animals’ defence mechanisms, some use skin color to camoflouge while others use bright to signal toxicity.

Finding a needle in a haystack

My first day looking through the compost, I found this plastic particle and made this image. I had no idea what it was, but it looked like a sequin. I pushed it around under the microscope, zoomed in to see the scratches and marks, and just marvelled at it for a while. I found myself thinking about it on my way home. I shared my discovery with my advisor, Hans Peter, and asked what he thought it was. Through our emails I was reminded I could use the FT-IR machine to trace the plastic’s “fingerprint” which would give us a better idea of what it could be. The only problem is, I put the particle back into the compost container…. and so the next day began my needle in a haystack search.

It took some time and I went a little cross eyed, BUT I am happy to say that not only did I find it again, I also found other intriguing particles along the way. Back to the microscope I went for further visual investigation.

And from the microscope, now on to the FT-IR machine and this is where things got fun. While trying to pick up the particle with the tweezers, I managed to pinch it just right, resulting in the teeny tiny piece flinging from my grip out into the universe of the room. And so began my second search of the day for this particle that I clearly had become obsessed over. Thankfully I had another set of eyes (this is collaboration working at its best!) and the researcher I was working with amazingly found it on the floor! Let me also stop to say, this is one of the many reasons why I am not a scientist I am an artist: I loose things, swear and move on to other interesting subjects. And I am pretty sure that is not how science reports are supposed to go….

So finally we got to analyse my escape-artist particle and this is what we found:

The line drawings, that look a bit like a heart monitor, represents the chemical make up of the particle. My advisor confirmed, “It is PET plastic (i.e. polyester, or the same type of plastic used to make beverage bottles)., that is all I can say about it. Likely some kind of decorative piece (e.g. a small bead on a blouse or cheap jewellery??).”

This planet mimicking particle, could have come from anywhere and been anything in the PET family. It could be a decoration from a kid’s birthday party or like Hans Peter mentions, part of jewellery. Its unknown origin offers us the option to draw our own conclusions on what we think it is and the stories it carries.

So I am curious, what do you think it is? What stories can it tell? And what have you learned on this little plastic adventure of mine?

The Fjord is calling...

I got my first phone when I was 16 as a birthday gift from my mom. I can distinctly remember being in a restaurant when my wrapped “present” started ringing next to me. I was so excited for this gift of freedom that went with my newly acquired drivers license (however I am now realizing the phone was also a way to keep tabs on me with my new wheels…). I have had countless phones since and have been a part of technology’s rapid change - I have had the Nokias, the flip phones, the little keyboarded blackberry, and even one of my favourites - a neon green slide phone. All of these have ultimately brought us to today’s tiny computers in our pockets. So many upgrades, dropped phones, cracked screens, dead batteries. I never questioned what happened after one phone left my hands for another newer one. Now at 34, I am definitely thinking about it and questioning our consumer driven lifestyle to upgrade every year. At this point in time, we all know cell phones. Their shapes have become relatively the same and most of us wouldn’t dream of leaving home without it. We rely on them. They are our communication tool, map, camera, tie to the “real world”. But with these advances in technology (that are quite amazing and helpful) there is also the waste stream that is associated with the production, shipment, use, and especially the disposal of electronics. And if that doesn’t give you a moment to reflect on the resource in your pocket, maybe knowing that we are fishing them out of the fjord will!

Here are some images I made in the lab of the collected phones :

So where am I going with these images? No clue! The research lab at NGI is studying Electronic Waste (aka E-Waste) which I am excited to learn more about it. There could be a potential overlap of the phones we are pulling from the fjord with the studies being done at the lab…. Or maybe its a visual study on how water and salt effects electronics… or what chemicals leach out of the phones…not sure yet!

Fjord Clean Up Group

This is when I really love social media. I discovered the Fjord Clean Up Group on instagram after a friend posted about them last summer. A group of people gathering to clean up the waters in Oslo just because they care and want to bring awareness to marine debris, could this be true?? Did I just find my people?? Heck yes I did. Since being in Norway, I have joined five clean ups and participated as a land collector, free diver, and kayaker. All roles are fun and lend different view points to the trash being collected. Check out the group on instagram and follow along as we clean up the fjords in Oslo!

Plastic in Compost: 1

Notes:

  • black background, bits of compost, dramatic lighting - feels like outer space

  • microscopic to cosmic - playing with scale

  • floating plastic

  • tangible materials

  • colors and shapes

Let's talk compost

In the States:

I collect my food scraps into containers and store them in my freezer. Once they are full, I take a trip thirty minutes south to my mom’s compost bins, which fertilizes a very impressive vegetable garden, which in turn feeds the family. Composting at a individual rate seems to be becoming more common, but not at a town or city level. I can think of one company in the area that offers pick up of home composting - VitaNova Compost (and they are awesome). I also just discovered Clean Ocean Access’s project Healthy Soils Healthy Seas, which is a really cool composting program happening in Newport County, RI.

In Norway:

I was pleasantly surprised that here in Oslo, all households separate food from the residual waste. In fact, trash and recycling are much more separate here and there are specific containers for: plastic, paper, glass & aluminium, food waste, residual waste, and the bottled beverages all get returned to the store for money. Back home the return rate for a can is $.05, here it ranges from 2-3kr (or $.22-.33) so the return incentive is significantly more. This is definitely something I think that could be worked on back home, a higher rate for bottle returns would certainly help in our recycling cycle. Okay but back to compost….

Plastic & Fibers in Compost, 2022

In the NGI Lab:

There is a study focusing on compost made from food waste generated in Oslo.

The background information:

  • food scraps are collected into green bags (these are not biodegradable, although some households purchase actual biodegradable options)

  • the bags are collected by the city and taken to a facility

  • where they are cut open and the contents processed for compost

Unfortunately, plastic is finding its way into the end composting result. The research at the lab is to discover the quantities, chemical make up, and possible separation options for the plastic. While this research project is happening in Norway, it makes me draw parallels to my composting back home. My previous knowledge of composting is at a small and intimate level. For the most part, I know and see what goes into the food cycle in my mom’s garden. The study in the lab has brought me to the next level of witnessing compost at a bigger scale and with it, the problems that occur. The plastic pollution can be seen with the naked eye, no microscope needed. Fragments from the green collection bags cling to the organic materials, bits of tinfoil shimmer, and translucent plastic films try to blend into the soil. It is abundantly clear that plastic is here, in the compost, in the soil.

Compost Study, 2022

So follow along on the blog as I photographically examine the compost study in the lab, and search for ways to share the importance of this research. Have questions or comments? Great! Send me an email and I will try my best to answer them. (elizabethellenwood@gmail.com)

What's a Nurdle?

Great question and glad you asked! I discovered the term “nurdle” when I was reading Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution. Nurdles or “plastic pellets” are the pure form of plastic before they are turned into an object. Think of them as the “building blocks” of the plastic industry, you need them to make the bottles, cups, utensils, really any plastic object. The chemical make up can be polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and the size is quite small (think the size of a lentil bean). For being so small, they are a HUGE pollution problem. Nurdles can enter the environment through factory or in transit spills. They are mistaken for food and ingested by many fish and marine animals, a deadly mix up. Once they are in the water, sand, soil, they are incredibly hard to separate. As horrible as these little plastic nightmares are, I will admit a strange excitement when I find one on the beach. Its like finding sea glass, but instead of a sculpted frosted glass, the treasure is a perfect smooth circle of plastic.

 

My nurdle hunt was inspired after a home office day when I found myself at Huk, a small beach close to Oslo. I was picking up debris when I found one plastic pellet, then another, and another. Realizing my finds couldn’t be a coincidence, I plopped down on the beach and started to sift through the sand with a stick. Sure enough more and more nurdles revealed themselves. Their presence was really hard to ignore. I emailed my advisor Hans Peter about my discovery and asking his thoughts on why so many in that location. His response was very informative, turns out there was a big nurdle spill from a container ship in 2020. After finding so many of them on my first trip, I decided to return the next day. It didn’t take long to find more hiding in the sand.

299 Nurdles later….