As visitors to the East Coast increase, so does the amount of litter, and the pressure on the environment.

One local is doing her bit to address the issue and inspire change through art.

Michaela Insley works in conservation and in her spare time this holiday season, she’s been picking up rubbish every day.

She has used those bits of rubbish to create a sculpture of a toroa (albatross).

Her focus has been on small broken pieces of debris which can cause the most harm for seabirds like albatross.

“What we see happening all over the world is already happening here too. Plastics don’t disappear; they break down into smaller and smaller fragments. These tiny pieces are easily mistaken for food by seabirds like toroa (albatross) and many marine species.”

Ms Insley said the ingested plastic caused serious harm not only for the adult birds, but also for their offspring when they were regurgitated to feed the young.

“Many seabirds travel the East Coast currents along ancient ara moana, ocean pathways. Returning year after year on the same winds.

“I watch them do this, season after season. That consistency, that whakapapa connection to place, is exactly why it’s important to act in good faith now, before the problem becomes unmanageable, not after.”

Ms Insley said the devastating impacts that rubbish was having on the ocean was already evident internationally.

She is committed to advocating for change now, so New Zealand does not end up in the same predicament.

“I’ve been in contact with several environmental projects around the country, all passionate about making a difference.

“Together, we’ve been planning what large-scale impact could look like by bringing artists together to speak to these issues in meaningful ways.

“Since then, many others have joined this mission, taking their tamariki out to engage in action for nature. I’ve received countless messages of support and inspiration around this particular art piece.

“If you look closely at the artwork, the bird shape itself is created from black and white pieces of trash found on the beach. The stomach area is coloured to highlight the ingestion of rubbish that seabirds experience.”

Ms Insley said she always knew she was an artist, but was never good at drawing, so she had to find the right way to express it.

She has done so through her mahi as a professional photographer, storyteller and videographer. Capturing wildlife is her inspiration.

“Producing art that inspires action for nature is something I now understand I was always meant to do.”