PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

A school of colorful fish sculptures created from recycled plastic will be making a splash at the Detroit Zoo’s Ford Education Center from Earth Day through July 9, 2017. The traveling exhibit will be unveiled at the Zoo’s GreenFest on April 22 and will be featured at the green-themed Sunset at the Zoo on June 16.

Five sculptures, each representing one of the Great Lakes, were created by 150 Detroit Public Schools students along with volunteers from Art Road, a nonprofit organization that provides art materials and projects to students. The exhibit is designed to illustrate the impact of plastic waste on freshwater animals.

“As stewards of the environment, we hope to inform visitors about sustainability in an impactful yet engaging way,” said Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS). “This exhibit encourages the community to join us on our Green Journey to help keep plastic out of our Great Lakes.”

The Detroit Zoo’s annual GreenFest will feature earth-friendly activities and exhibits to engage the community in environmental stewardship. Sunset at the Zoo, themed “Green is the New Black”, will highlight the DZS’s sustainability efforts, including reducing plastic waste in the environment.

The DZS’s sustainability initiatives make up the DZS Greenprint – a strategic plan to refine and improve green practices and facilities at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center, incorporate sustainability in all policies and programs, and improve green literacy and action in the community.

Recent Greenprint initiatives include discontinuing the sale of bottled water on Detroit Zoo grounds, keeping 60,000 plastic bottles out of the waste stream annually; powering Zoo operations with 100% renewable electricity; and building an anaerobic digester, which will annually convert 500 tons of animal manure into methane-rich gas to help power the Zoo’s animal hospital.