Japanese manicurist turns sea trash into eco-conscious nail art
Naomi Arimoto sifts sand on the beach near her home for tiny bits of plastic that she can mould into decorative tips to put on the false nails at her salon.
Before global leaders take the problem of plastic pollution into their hands this month, Japanese manicurist Naomi Arimoto is putting it into her fingernails.
At the beach near her home south of Tokyo, Arimoto carefully sifts sand for tiny bits of plastic that she can mould into decorative tips to put on the false nails at her salon. She came up with the idea after taking part in community cleanups along the coast.
“I became aware of environmental issues the moment I saw with my own eyes just how much plastic waste was in the ocean,” 42-year-old Arimoto said. “I thought it was horrifying.”
An estimated 22 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the environment each year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A United Nations summit in Busan, South Korea, starting on Nov. 25 aims to craft a landmark treaty, that would set global caps on plastic production.
The United States, one of the world’s biggest plastic makers, signaled in August it would support a global treaty, a shift that environmental watchdog Greenpeace called a “watershed moment” in the fight against plastic pollution.
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