The dynamic duo and ocean warriors, Chris Green and Jane Upton are spearheading a new creative twist on the environmental slogan reuse, reduce and recycle by adding an artistic element to gathering litter and other waste from the Durban Coast.
From washed up planks and driftwood to bottle caps, nothing is off limits to the creative couple who have made a home for their little stall, called ‘You, me and the sea’, at the Golden Hours Family Market some two and a half years ago. Chris who is a plumber by trade and Jane who works at a second hand book establishment said that their love for the ocean and the environment stems from their childhood where they fondly remember beach combing and collecting rocks, shells, driftwood and rope. “Jane remembers finding a rock with a hole in it (a hagstone) and hanging it around her neck with a piece of string at the age of five. I, much to my parents distress, would not get back into the car until I found a rock for my ever growing collection,” said Green. “While beach combing 10 years ago Chris would walk along the beach stringing shells with holes, bottle tops, driftwood and fisherman’s tackle with floats onto old fishing gut. The result was fabulous, as it led to him making large outdoor hanging mobiles. As time went on, the ideas and possibilities of recycling ‘anything’ has been immense,” added Upton.
Ever so skilled with his hands, Green has made animals out of washed up planks of wood and driftwood, friendly bendy snakes out of plastic and metal bottle tops and caps, sharks and turtles made out of chicken wire and sea glass and wooden Angel’s made from wood and driftwood with old nails as arms. “A favourite project of ours was working with Kevin Ellis and his team at SPCA in Kloof. Chris made a donkey that was raffled to help the rescue donkeys that were being taken care of at the SPCA at the time,” said Upton. According to Green, his creative process starts from playing and tinkering with odd bits and pieces, slowly working his way up to an inspired masterpiece. He believes that the most important part is that the item made can be perfectly imperfect and to not worry about making mistakes as the best ‘items’ come to life from those mistakes. “Just play! It can take five minutes to make something or a thought will sit for a while, something will be half made and then a week later it will all come together perfectly! We giggle when that happens!” The importance of doing their part to make sure all indigenous life in our oceans thrive is deeply ingrained in the couple’s hearts. “We do a lot of walking along the beach, also near the river mouths. We walk the beaches in Durban, Ballito, Zinkwazi and Blythedale. High and Low tide as you never know what you are going to find.
We collect as much as we can carry! Bags of plastic and roping wood together and crates picked up with overflowing plastic. We find lots of plastic bottle tops, lighters, toothbrushes, plastic ear buds, shoes, tyres, plastic buckets, table legs, chair legs, hair rollers, millions of nappies, chip and plastic packets and plastic cooldrink bottles, cable ties, straws, nylon rope, it breaks our hearts.” According to the couple, the problem is single use plastic which takes years to disintegrate. Their advice to anyone who would like to make a difference in an fun way would be beach cleanups as an activity with family and friends or to involve kids in community service days which will surely mould them to one day be the custodians of all animal life. “We only have one earth, one ocean and one chance. As you walk through the water and watch the waves and feel the breeze, the sand singing between your toes, you know you are connected and one with it all. Picking up plastic makes your heart sing and the song is carried out to sea on sea gulls wings. We are very blessed.”
