Design
London's Nasty Sidewalk Grime Inspires Lovely Environmental Art
Street artist “Moose” power-washed dirty sidewalks to create a portrait of imperiled ocean life.
When you drop a candy wrapper or cigarette butt on the ground, its journey does not end there. Often it’ll be swept into storm drains and washed away, eventually joining the rotten soup of 5.25 trillion plastic particles polluting the seas.
London pedestrians now have a reminder of the ugly consequences of littering beneath their feet, thanks to a public intervention from grocery company Lidl and the charmingly named Keep Britain Tidy. The latter group—which despises misplaced trash so much it will find that Starbucks cup you tossed away and publicly shame you—worked with street artist Paul “Moose” Curtis to etch turtles, seabirds, and other imperiled marine life into the grime that’s caked on city sidewalks.