The other side of paradise: Incredible photos show mountains of plastic bottles washed up on idyllic honeymoon islands in Maldives
It's renowned for its luxury accommodation, turquoise waters and breath-taking beaches.
However,
these images show the darker side to the Maldives - with huge amounts
of rubbish washed up on the island’s pristine sands.
Award-winning
filmmaker Alison Teal, 27, visited Thilafushi – or Trash Island - an
artificial island created as a municipal landfill situated to the west
of Malé.
Dark side of paradise: Alison Teal
pictured with her surfboard while walking through mountains of rubbish
on Thilafushi in the Maldives
Plastic pollution: Alison lies on her
surfboard as she navigates plastic waste that has washed up around the
islands in the Maldives
Burning waste: Alison walks through
plastic on Thilafushi - an artificial island in the Maldives which is a
dumping ground for rubbish
She
said she was shocked at the amount of plastic bottles she saw floating
in the crystal-clear sea and strewn across the usually idyllic beaches.
Accompanied
by Australian photographer Mark Tipple and his colleague Sarah Lee, the
group took these shocking images and footage to document the luxury
destination's waste problem.
There
are more than 400 tonnes of rubbish dumped on the Maldives’ island every
day - a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the
chain of atolls relies. Each visitor generates 3.5kg of waste per day.
Alison,
from Hawaii, who supports organisations that recycle plastic into
fashion, including bikinis and jackets, has made a documentary about her
time in the Maldives.
Away from the tourists: Alison has made a documentary about the amount of waste that washes up around the Maldvies
Miles of litter: Thilafushi is an artificial island in the Maldives where about 400 tonnes of rubbish is dumped every day
Paradise lost: Alison dives under the
crystal-clear water of the Maldives holding a plastic bottle which was
floating in the water
She
said: ‘I was overwhelmingly shocked by the amount of plastic rubbish
which covered the uninhabited, picturesque island we stayed on.
‘This was only one island - I couldn't bear to imagine what the other 1,200 islands looked like, covered in rubbish.
‘To
leave the island, we actually made a raft out of bottles. As we paddled
to our rescue boat, I swore I would come back and do something about
the plastic pollution.’
Compelled
to help out after witnessing the waste problem first hand, Alison took
part in a beach clean-up, with a team of volunteers and now helps
companies which make rubbish into clothes.
Alison said: ‘I collected rubbish in an effort to save the highly threatened biosphere.
Ideal holiday location? Alison said
she wanted to highlight the other side of the Maldives, which the
honeymooners and tourists don't see
Stunning location: Photographer Mark
Tipple takes an incredible photo of Alison diving under a wave - to
highlight how clear the Maldives water should be
Recycling campaign: Alison is keen to work with organisations that turn plastic bottles and waste into clothing
On a
mission: Alison wears plastic bottles to highlight the large amount of
waste in the Maldives. top, the campaigner stands on a mountain of
waste on Thilafushi
Campaign: Alison said that she also found plastic bottles in the Maldives that had drifted all the way from the US
‘In
only half an hour, covering about 50ft of beach, we gathered a huge
amount of plastic bottles which the villagers took great pride in making
plastic fashion.
Alison,
who champions organisations which turn plastic into useful items such
as bikinis, said: ‘I would love to see plastic disappear from this world
all together - particularly single use plastic such as bottles, straws,
and plastic bags.
‘But
in the meantime, I would rather see it in bikinis, jackets, and eyewear
than strewn across the beautiful beaches of the Maldives, and other
beaches around the world - with bottles that have drifted all the way
from America!’
She
added: ‘The landfill island is a sort of eerie, beautiful apocalyptic
art piece. Instead of looking at this wasteland as horrific, I see it as
an opportunity to make a lot of pink bikinis!’
Plastic bikini: Alison is campaigning
to have the mountains of waste found on Thilafushi turned into bikinis,
jackets and other clothing
Clean-up mission:
Alison walks on the white sand of an island in the Maldives with a
local child who helps her to collect the waste
Making a statement: Alison wraps
herself in a plastic bag that she found floating in the water around the
idyllic islands in the Maldives
Crystal-clear waters: Alison shows how stunning the ocean around the Maldives is once she's away from the mountains of rubbish
Stunning view: The Maldives that tourists see is a far cry from the reality of Thilafushi, according to Alison
Underwater adventure: Alison pictured
diving with a manta ray in the Maldives where she highlighted the
rubbish crisis on Thilafushi
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