Plastic bags put environment at the top of the tree

A nine metre high Christmas tree created from thousands of discarded plastic bags has been created to encourage consumers to consider the environmental consequences of a throwaway society.

The ‘Consumerist Christmas Tree’, created by Spanish art collective, Luzinterruptus, was displayed at Durham’s Lumiere festival last month, an annual event that sees unusual light installations installed around the city.

The Christmas tree, displayed at the Prince Bishops shopping centre, was developed from an original piece that was part of an exhibition in Switzerland that explored how plastic bags might symbolise a consumerist society.

The artists say the tree is “an installation that will help to raise awareness of the excessive use of plastic bags and the consequences that this consumption has on the environment."