Tour Host
NOAA-Florida Keys
Eco-Discovery Center
"Innovative and inspiring."
"Excellent exhibit! Great for showing us how to put an end to allowing trash in the ocean."
"Thank you for the positive approach in being pro-active in caring for our planet. We leave the Splash Trash Tour with more zeal. POSITIVE ACTIVISTS – FIND OPTIONS TO PLASTICS."
Pop-up Show Visitors
Florida Keys
Eco-Discovery Center
March 15 - 26, 2017
The internationally renowned Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center is sponsored and operated by NOAA through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, one of fifteen marine protected areas that make up our National Marine Sanctuary System.
The Eco-Discovery Center is an amazing place with 6,000 square feet of interactive exhibits interpreting the ecology of the Key's habitats, a mock-up of Aquarius (the world's only underwater ocean laboratory) and the Mote Marine Laboratory Living Reef exhibit with a 2,500-gallon reef tank full of living corals and tropical fish.
It felt like such an honor to be at such a prestigious location and be able to share the Tour with people from all over the world. I heard at least 15 different languages.
And my little Splash Trash trailer parked right in front!
Special thanks to Craig Wanous, Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center Manager, for making this possible. He made everything such a pleasure - from setting up to taking down and everything in between!
Hmmm...how to set the Pop-Up Show in the this lovely space -
the Center lobby and the first thing visitors see when they walk in the door!
Transformation!
The response here was beyond my wildest dreams. It took twice the amount the time to install the show because people were looking and asking questions before it was even completely set up!
Almost 2,500 people visited the Pop-Up Show during the seven days. I think I talked with almost all of them! Lots of dialogue and sharing of stories.
More than 200 visitors made written commitments to adopt a new habit that will reduce trash in the ocean.
More fun time reading to the 'littles'. We grrrowled like polar bears and shreeeeked like sea gulls.
Moving moment: I looked over and one of the moms had tears streaming down her face.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
She replied, unashamed of her tears, "You've made something so beautiful out of something so ugly."
Art is a wound turned into light.
George Breques
The kids loved my art work. One little girl liked it so much, she decided to take it home with her!
But the most fun was creating Catch of the Day with a wonderful group of four-to-nine-year-olds.
I was a little nervous because they were so young and I thought they might lose interest, but they were enthralled until the end!
And then they brought their friends to see it!
"The Splash Trash Tour was very engaging and offered our visitors from all over the globe the opportunity to see the devastating impact of trash and plastic debris on our seas, our beaches and our wildlife.
The combination of colorful art made out of beach trash and the many photos and displays made the Tour an interactive, hands-on exhibit that was both fun and educational for all ages.
Craig Wanous
Key West Eco-Discovery Center Manager
© SplashTrash 2016
SplashTrash Intl. by SplashTrash Intl. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please give credit to SplashTrash Intl., the SplashTrash Tour, Bette Booth, www.splashtrash.org
