The Uswetakeiyawa beach was once home to a powerful environmental artwork titled “Trash Elephant,” created by internationally awarded artist and sculptor Lalith Senanayake. The sculpture, made entirely from plastic waste, gained global recognition and was selected as one of the world’s top 10 creations by National Geographic in one of its children’s publications. Sadly, the sculpture is no longer visible today. It has been destroyed and removed due to unfortunate circumstances, What once stood as a symbol of awareness and creativity is now only a memory. This photograph shows the location where the elephant sculpture once stood. Its disappearance has brought tears to the eyes of thousands of art lovers around the world.
A magnificent creation by Lalith Senanayake, an elephant made out of plastic waste, was his valuable Christmas gift to Uswetakeiyawa.
“Sri Lanka is one of the highly exposed countries among countries that pollute the ocean with plastic waste. We dispose of more than two tons of plastic waste into the Indian Ocean each year. If we go to the beach today we can effortlessly collect a heap of a plastic waste,” said Lalith.
Not happy to stand by watching waste accumulate on the Uswetakeiyawa beach, Lalith and his family members started to collect the waste plastic there and built a creation that made the whole area proud.
Lalith is an exceptional Sri Lankan artist who has made a mark in many numerous countries with his massive sculptures.
“Let’s say no to inappropriate plastic waste disposal. We hardly think that even a very small drinking straw or a very small piece of plastic will end up as a deposit in the middle of the ocean,” said Lalith, who with this sculpture reminds all of us of that pathetic reality.
The sponsorship for this creation was provided by the American Embassy in Sri Lanka with the collaboration of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Organisation.
