TRASH ISLES MICRONATION BANKNOTES

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 36, September 6, 2020, Article 29

We've often discussed the coins and banknotes of micronations. Kavan Ratnatunga passed along articles about promotions for a new micronation created by activists to draw attention to a big environmental problem. This one was found on the International Bank Note Society forum. Thanks. The articles date from 2017 and I don't see much about it online since 2018, so I don't know where the effort stands today. But it's absolutely in the grand tradition of micronation lore. Where are the banknotes today? Were they sold as a fundraiser? -Editor

Floating in the North Pacific Ocean is a mountain of waste the size of France. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of two masses of rubbish between the US and Japan and contains everything from LEGO bricks to computer monitors and fishing nets.

This pollution has had a devastating effect on marine life (around 1 million seabirds die from encountering plastic waste each year) – so media site LADbible has joined forces with The Plastic Oceans Foundation to do something about it.

In a video posted on LADbible yesterday, former Eastenders actor and TV tough guy / documentary maker Ross Kemp (who travelled the world tracking down criminals for series Ross Kemp on Gangs) announced a campaign to make the Pacific garbage patch a recognised state.

An application submitted to the UN on World Ocean’s Day asks for ‘The Trash Isles’ to be recognised as an official country. Climate change campaigner and former US Vice President Al Gore has been named an honorary citizen and the Trash Isles even has its own currency, stamps and passports.

The LADbible film invites viewers to pledge their support for the campaign by signing a change.org petition urging the UN to approve the application.

If the application is successful, the petition claims that other world leaders would be forced to work together to ‘clean up’ The Trash Isles under the UN’s Environmental Charter. (The charter states that “all members shall co-operate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth’s ecosystem”.)

The Trash Isles campaign was thought up by ad creatives Michael Hughes and Dalatando Almeida. Designer Mario Kerkstra created the identity for the island, designing its flag as well as banknotes and a passport for Gore. LADbible developed the campaign’s overall look and feel and led the campaign’s marketing strategy and content production.

“We wanted to come up with a way to ensure world leaders can’t ignore it anymore, a way to stick it under their noses, literally.”

Campaigns raising awareness of climate change or pollution often rely on shock tactics and hard hitting messages. Hughes and Almeida’s Trash Isle project also manages to deliver a serious message about the extent of the problem in our oceans but does so with wit and a touch of wry humour.

It seems a little unlikely that the Trash Isles will be recognised as an official country – but it’s an inventive approach to talking about climate change. And at the very least, it might help spread awareness among LADbible’s sizeable audience.

For additional information, see:
Come Join The Trash Isles! (https://trashhero.org/blog/would-you-be-for-citizen-to-the-trash-isles/)
TRASH ISLES (https://www.ladbiblegroup.com/casestudy/trash-isles/)
?Trash Isles Citizens Respond To The United Nations (https://www.ladbible.com/community/news-trash-isles-citizens-respond-to-the-united-nations-20180515)