'Priscilla the Parrotfish' art installation at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, St. Paul, Minnesota

© Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Image

Can we turn the tide on ocean plastic?. World Environment Day

'To damage the Earth is to damage your children,' as the writer and environmentalist Wendell Berry put it. Today is World Environment Day, which marks its 50th year of raising awareness and encouraging action to protect the natural world. This year's theme is about finding solutions to plastic pollution, which brings us to our homepage image.

The colorful collection of assembled objects in this picture is just a small section of an art installation named 'Priscilla the Parrotfish.' Like other sculptures by the Washed Ashore environmental project, Priscilla was constructed from plastic litter found on Oregon's beaches. While striking to look at, the sculpture reminds us that more than 8 million tons of plastic are estimated to be dumped in the ocean each year, harming marine life. This year's World Environment Day urges an end to the flow of waste, by changing the way we produce, use, and dispose of plastic.