written by Jennifer Pless – Community Engagement and Development Officer, Scottish Maritime Museum
Have you ever made changes to your daily routine or habits to help reduce your personal impact on our planet?
That was one of the questions a recent intergenerational community group were asking as part of their “Trashion” project at the Scottish Maritime Museum. Young people from Irvine Youth Legacy Centre and people from Irvine Senior’s Forum came together and used the Museum’s collection to inspire and inform their exploration of the impact of marine pollution, fast fashion and our own personal responsibilities on the Oceans and our climate.
The group, over a period of five months, not only built a better understanding of the climate emergency in Scotland and more globally, they also built strong relationships with each other, forming bonds across generations through their shared goals. Supported by the team at the Museum and Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Our Heritage, Our Future programme, the group found their voice in sharing messages about the fragility of our planet and the damage our human behaviour is doing to it.
Playing icebreaker games to build relationships with each other.
Building up the group’s climate knowledge with climate emergency training delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful.
At the start of the project there were a lot of ideas; the “Tunnel of Death” was possibly a bit beyond what the time and budget would allow. It was difficult at first to visualise what a final exhibition might look like, but with a bit of time and teamwork the vision came into focus and the plan was set for creating “Trashion”. The group wanted it to have impact, to show how our careless management of waste doesn’t just affect us, it affects animal species too.
While the “Tunnel of Death” message was clear, the group decided that they wanted to focus on making fashion out of rubbish instead.
It was decided early on that the exhibition would feature six mannequins with animal heads, all exploring different themes around marine pollution and the climate.
It was important to the group that creating the exhibition didn’t mean creating more waste. Instead, everything was made from materials that were either second hand, from the recycling bin or repurposed from something else. Plastic bottles and newspapers became animal heads for the mannequins, old bed sheets became capes, ring pulls became a top, old DVDs added a bit of “bling” to the outfits, old ball pit balls became octopus’ eyes and towels rescued from Irvine Beach became a kilt. Even the mannequins were borrowed or acquired second hand and the plinth they sit on is made from an old pallet and repurposed plywood. There were times in the process it was hard to see what the outcome would be through all the materials, but slowly and surely everything began to fall into place.
The beginnings of an octopus made from plastic bottles, chicken wire, tin foil and bottle tops.
From litter picking at the beach to a full outfit.
The final exhibition shares messages of poor environmental practices in our maritime past, some of which are still an issue today. It talks about the global connection, that actions we take here, can impact ecosystems elsewhere on the planet. It also highlights the shocking reality of the litter emergency in Scotland. There are still too many people not taking responsibility for their rubbish and expecting someone else to clean it up. The exhibition also sends a strong message that “we are dying now”. We need to take more action now if we want to save our precious planet from climate catastrophe and protect it for our future generations.
We are dying now, but there is still time to put it right.
“Trashion” the exhibition is on display in the Linthouse building of the Scottish Maritime Museum until the 5th of September 2025. Its finale is a “Trashion Show” is being held on the evening of the 13th of August. More details and FREE tickets are available here.
If you would like to do more to help protect our planet, here a few suggestions of things you could do.
- Write to your politicians and tell them that you expect them to take climate change seriously and to advocate for the environment on behalf of the constituents they serve.
- Find out about local volunteering opportunities with environmentally minded community groups and charities.
- Join a climate emergency training course and update your knowledge on the climate and how we can make changes to protect it. Keep Scotland Beautiful runs regular training courses, you can visit their website to find out what is on offer.
- Make a pledge to change one personal habit to reduce your impact on the environment and stick to it. To make it official you could pop into the Scottish Maritime Museum and sign our Agency of World Change Agreements Register and join hundreds of other people who have pledged to change their habits for the benefit of our planet. If you would like some ideas of the types of pledges you could make, why not watch this short film create during our Dive-In event in celebration of World Ocean Day.
The Trashion project was gratefully funded by Museums Galleries Scotland through a Museums Development Grant.
The project was also supported by Keep Scotland Beautiful and their Our Heritage, Our Future programme. Our Heritage, Our Future is made possible with Historic Environment Scotland and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.
