Jordan's Plastic Trash Turned into Art with a Message

Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
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Jordan's Plastic Trash Turned into Art with a Message

Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP

Jordan-based artist Maria Nissan is on a mission: to rid the world of single-use plastics and to raise public awareness about the environmental scourge through eye-catching art.

One of her best-known murals graces the side of a building in the capital Amman, a giant work made from more than 2,000 plastic bottles, almost 1,000 shopping bags and over 150 hookah pipe hoses, AFP said.

A US citizen of Iraqi origin, Nissan said she became enchanted with Amman when she first visited three years ago, but also felt "frustration and anger" at the piles of garbage on the streets and in areas of natural beauty.

"Despite the beauty of the city, walking its streets can be a journey filled with all kinds of trash," the 35-year-old said.

"My eyes cannot turn away from the abundant shiny plastic bags, glass bottles, soda cans, candy bar wrappers," said Nissan, who occasionally sports a dress made from a sturdy blue Ikea bag.

Trained in painting and drawing in the United States and Italy, Nissan decided to collect and repurpose the trash to create art -- often collages themed on women's faces, flowers and Oriental motifs.

Her home, where she has a rooftop workspace under a large canopy, is filled with every imaginable kind of discarded plastic object, from razors and toothbrushes to lighters, pens and plastic spoons.

"Art made of plastic is a concrete and powerful way to raise concerns on environmental issues that affect Jordanians, their children, their communities and natural environments in the kingdom," she said.

- 'Everybody's problem' -
"A bottle littered in a valley will take up to 450 years to decompose," said Nissan, pointing out that the effect is "micro-plastics polluting the soils, water and the wildlife.

"Because plastics are littered indiscriminately in fields and water, livestock and fish feed themselves indirectly with plastic pieces that we will ultimately find on our plates."

Nissan's work has been exhibited in 12 shows in Jordan as well as in Italy and Greece, and features on her Instagram channel @marianissanart, all with the purpose of changing minds and habits.

Jordanians use three billion plastic bags every year, part of the country's annual solid waste load of 2.2 million tons, of which only seven percent is recycled, according to the UN Development Program.

Nissan urges people to avoid buying plastic products and to go shopping with reusable bags, and also advocates a tax on single-use plastics.

"The consequences of single-use plastic pollution are often delayed, and therefore it is difficult to have people feel accountable and responsible for their own acts," she said.

"Plastic comes back to us in one way or another ... It's nobody's responsibility until it becomes everybody's problem."



Princess Kate Makes Rare Consecutive Public Appearances after Cancer Diagnosis

 Kate, Princess of Wales, left an Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP)
Kate, Princess of Wales, left an Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP)
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Princess Kate Makes Rare Consecutive Public Appearances after Cancer Diagnosis

 Kate, Princess of Wales, left an Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP)
Kate, Princess of Wales, left an Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP)

Britain's Princess Kate attended the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in London, her second public appearance in two days, as she gradually returns to public duties after her treatment for cancer.

She watched from the balcony of a government building as members of the royal family, including King Charles, and politicians laid wreaths at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London.

The Princess of Wales was wearing a black hat and jacket adorned with red poppies, which are worn by Britons as a symbol of respect for those who have lost their lives in conflict.

On Saturday, she appeared at the Festival of Remembrance at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Kate said in September she had finished chemotherapy, but her path to full recovery would be long. At the time, the 42-year-old said she would be carrying out a handful of public engagements later in the year.

Before this weekend's events her last public appearance was in October when she met the bereaved families of three young girls who were murdered at a dance class in northwest England.

The ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial is held on the nearest Sunday to Nov. 11 to mark the end of World War One, and pays tribute to those who lost their lives in conflict

Kate's husband William, who is heir to the throne, said during a visit to South Africa last week that the past year had probably been the "hardest" of his life after Kate and his father Charles were diagnosed with cancer.