'Scavenger of the sea' makes a splash with debris artwork

Editor's note: The annual World Cleanup Day is a global social action program designed to address the global international solid waste problem. It falls on September 21 this year.

More and more Chinese are becoming more aware of the importance of combating plastic pollution, among whom is the 36-year-old Fu Junsheng from the coastal city of Yantai in eastern Shandong province.

"I have been collecting, organizing and researching floating objects along the beach for eight years," Fu, the young artist who is called "scavenger of the sea", said.

Witnessing the rapid urbanization in his college years in Qingdao, another coastal city in Shandong, Fu became deeply concerned about the environmental impact of human activities, particularly marine debris. Since 2017, this graduate of oil painting has made it his mission to collect, categorize and study the "floating objects" washed ashore on the islands.

Now, Fu is based in the Changshan Islands (also known as Changdao), an archipelago area in Yantai city. For him, Changdao is where the beauties of the sea are gathered in one place. However, after every typhoon or high wind, the islands and bays get a lot of human-generated waste that floats from nearby areas. These are his "harvest" times for floating objects.

"It's like the sea has puked up the waste," Fu said.

Among those floating objects, many are items of daily use, such as toothbrushes, children's toys and slippers. Fu said he has collected over 800 single, unmatched slippers so far.

The collection that impressed him the most is a package of instant noodles produced in 1993, which has still retained its original look after 30 years because it is not biodegradable. From time to time, he also finds colorful lighters with information indicating that they are from other countries or regions.