Buffalo Zoo "Bags" Polar Bear Exhibit

WXXI News | By Associated Press

Published November 8, 2015 at 10:50 AM EST

Buffalo Zoo staff and volunteers spent months collecting the bags and constructing the sculpture.

BUFFALO (AP) A new sculpture at the Buffalo Zoo's recently opened Arctic Edge exhibit makes an environmental, as well as artistic, statement.

The polar bear sculpture is made of plastic shopping bags _ about 1,500 of them. The zoo says that's about the number used by the average American family of four in one year.

The sculpture was created by zoo staff and volunteers, led by keeper Megan Monaco. She says the staff wants to get visitors thinking about the impact they can have on nature.

The production of plastic bags releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas which threatens the sea ice that Arctic species depend on.

“One of the main goals of the new Arctic Edge exhibit is to educate people about environmental conservation, and why protecting the environment is important for the survival of not just polar bears, but all species,” said the Buffalo Zoo's curator of education, Tiffany Vanderwerf.

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