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Environment

10th Jun 2021

G7 ‘Mount Rushmore’ in waste appears in Cornwall near summit

Kieran Galpin

Shiny, creative, and heads almost as big as the real thing!

The G7 summit has been in headlines from the moment Boris Johnson stepped gleefully of his fuel-guzzling choice of transportation. A sculpture has now been erected in honour of G7, which hopes to shed light on an enormous climate issue.

In the style of Mount Rushmore, a sculpture made entirely from electronic waste depicts the faces of the G7 leaders, complete with bad haircuts and eyebags!

The sculpture illustrates Boris Johnson, president Joe Biden, Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, French president Emmanuel Macron, Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

https://twitter.com/musicMagpie/status/1402376537702273025

Musicmagpie commissioned Joe Rush to build the sculptural art piece, which is now sat in plain view of the G7 summit. He told spoke to the BBC about the messaging behind his installation:

“We have this looking at them and hopefully we’re going to prick their conscience and make them realise they’re all together in this waste business.

“The key message is ‘talk to each other’ and let’s sort this mess out.”

MusicMagpie, the company behind the immense display, had the following to say about electronic waste:

“E-waste is a growing problem worldwide, and its impact on the environment is significant. If sent to landfills, e-waste can leak harmful chemicals into the soil and water or if incinerated, fumes release chemicals into the air, contributing to global warming.

“Not only this, but everything from our phones to our laptops rely heavily on precious materials to operate, which are not only limited resources, but also directly impact climate change when being extracted from the earth.

“We need to better educate and empower people to make changes today. People can support a more sustainable, circular economy, by doing something as simple as trading in or recycling their tech, which will extend the life of those devices and their parts.”