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Rise:61 is a youth group centred on the young people of Bemerton Heath, Salisbury. When the museum asked about their views on climate change, their biggest concern was the impact of littering on their local area, including their carefully-curated community garden.
As part of the climate emergency project, the group:
In the art workshops with Emma Kerr, the group designed protest banners which made statements about littering. The group wanted to encourage their neighbours to care about the environment.
They also created a ‘talking table’ out of old pallets. This gave them the opportunity to express their thoughts about climate change.
The table was later left on display at the Bemerton Heath Community Garden to communicate how the young people felt about climate change.
As part of the project, the museum found items from its collection which link with the modern-day litter that the group had found. Comparable in usage to today’s plastic and glass bottles is this a 20th century stoneware bottle. All take many hundreds of years to degrade.
But the stoneware bottles were costly to make, so the makers stamped their name on them so they could be reused.
Contrary to this, modern plastic bottles are cheap to make and often not reused. Most plastics are part-made from oil, a non-renewable material. When buried, it produces the toxins which are harmful to mammals.
Much of the litter that the group found was food related. For thousands of years, humans have needed pots for storing and serving food. But in contrast to today’s crisp packets and plastic wrappings, Bronze Age people used pottery items, like this one from the museum’s collection.
Both the pots and the wrappers are examples of rubbish that has not degraded with time, and will not for many years. However, the pottery could have been reused.
The group found some pink modern shoes, discarded on Bemerton Heath. They are made from plastics, making them more affordable.
But the quality is poor, so they don’t last long before they are thrown away, creating more plastic waste for landfill, and leaching more toxins into the soil.
These 19th century (1860) cross-stitch shoes from the museum’s collection were made with leather, canvas and wool. They were good quality and the signs of wear suggest they were well used, unlike the throwaway modern trainers.
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!