Whatever you celebrate this time of year, you have to admit that Christmas trees are still pretty cool. One artist in a town in Lithuania saved a lot of money by building one out of recycled soda bottles.
The city of Kaunas, Lithuania recently approached artist Jolanta Šmidtien to create the city’s Christmas tree this year, as she’d done for the past three years. Because the town, along with everywhere else in the world, is currently living in interesting times economically, she decided to save the city some cash.
She built a 13-meter (or roughly 40 feet) tall tree, using green plastic soda bottles, the kind which usually contain Sprite or 7-Up. It’s also held together with zip ties. At night, the tree is lit from within, giving a beautilful glow. It’s enough to melt the heart of even the grinchiest person.
Since the tree is made out of recycled parts, there’s no need to take any other resources out of the Earth. They didn’t need to suck some oil out of the ground or cut down any trees. This tree shows that recycling is not just some kind of environmental “slacktivism,” or pretending to do something for the environment. Recycling can also be beautiful. You might remember the song about dreaming of a “White Christmas,” but it’s also possible to have a green one.
If you like this, you’ll also want to check out our list of awesome art projects made out of recycled computer parts. You also don’t want to miss Junkbot, a robot also made out of discarded computer parts. If that’s not enough, check out these recycled metal robot sculptures.
