The Twin Bottles: art says NO to plastic in the sea

Did you know that on the Grand Canal of Venice, near Palazzo Ca' Vendramin Calergi there are two huge floating crushed bottles? They are not real floating rubbish items but the idea of their creators wants to be just that...the artists Helidon Xhixha and Giacomo Braglia in fact, through their unique installation entitled 'The Twin Bottles: Message in a Bottle,' want to launch a highly visible and provocative environmental message: no more plastic in our seas!

The artwork therefore draws attention to the very urgent problem of the pollution of world’s seas caused by plastic waste. Venice and its lagoon are a point in case: a lot of waste ends up in the water, but 90 per cent of it is plastic. This is why the two artists-cum-environmental activists chose Venice to display their two large steel bottles: what better place than the city that lives in the delicate balance between water and land? A balance that is threatened daily by human actions and harmful behaviors: a gush of wind is enough for plastics and microplastics to end up in the water and pollute the natural habitat and even enter our food chain. Our health as well as the environment are threatened!

Venice, however, is already working to deal with this serious problem: starting in 2021, thanks to a new urban cleanliness act, the lagoon city will be able to call itself ‘plastic free’! This means that all the shop owners will be obliged to deliver their products on biodegradable containers with any plastic material being outlawed within two years.

Venice has finally become #plasticfree and we at Venetoinside have decided to contribute by promoting sustainable tourism with the special tour ‘Slow Venice: enjoy a sustainable tourism experience in Venice’. A unique and unforgettable experience to discover the 'real' Venice, authentic and intimate with its inhabitants and the rhythms of our tradition with, however, an emphasis on the conservation and protection of the treasures of the city on water.