Todd M. Henry

Documentary photographer, photojournalist and visual storyteller.

Plastic Atoll: Throwaway Culture in Tuvalu

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Nationality: New Zealander & American

Biography: Social Documentary / Visual Ethnography. Todd Henry is a documentary photographer, photojournalist, and visual storyteller. He is interested in capturing visual content that examines various aspects of our society that we often take for... MORE

The northern end of Fongafale as seen from the air.

A Tuvaluan girl plays with a di...fic Ocean and Fongafale Lagoon.

A Tuvaluan girl plays with a discarded computer keyboard on a part of the island that is only 10 metres wide between the Pacific Ocean and Fongafale Lagoon.

A dead dog on the coast of Fongafale.

The rubbish dump for the entire...o the ocean or into the lagoon.

The rubbish dump for the entire island of Funafuti, and the capital, Funafuti, is located next to the village of Tengako on one of the narrowest parts of the island. Here it is difficult to contain plastic debris from falling into the ocean or into the lagoon.

Everything from cars, to motorb...ds up in the dump on Fongafale.

Everything from cars, to motorbikes, to water bottles and baby nappies ends up in the dump on Fongafale.

A rusting road construction machine sits in a Tuvaluan cemetary.

Tuvaluan kids playing on discarded pieces of plastic in the road.

A storm approaches the low lyin...ngafale from across the lagoon.

A storm approaches the low lying island of Fongafale from across the lagoon.

Tuvaluans have a close relation... as they depend on it for food.

Tuvaluans have a close relationship with the sea as they depend on it for food.

A typical house and street in the capital, Funafuti.

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Plastic Atoll: Throwaway Culture in Tuvalu

Updated Jun 2020

Location funafuti

Topics Environment

The tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu has limited land, resources and a dependence on imported goods due to a lack of food and water security. The country is also threatened by climate change driven sea level rise and some researchers estimate that the entire population may have to be relocated within the next 50-100 years. This poses many problems for the next generation of Tuvaluans to potentially have to face.

As the throwaway culture that is common in industrialised nations is imposed on small island societies such as Tuvalu, there are issues of what to do with all of the waste, especially discarded plastic packaging used for imported foods. The government of Tuvalu is doing as much as it can, but with the main island of Fongafale having a population of over 7000 people on an island that is only 12 km long and between 400 metres and 10 metres wide, there are serious issues around waste management.

As Tuvaluans have always had a close relationship with the sea and a dependence on its resources there has never been a more crucial time for them to make innovations which would allow them to better handle waste, while also making a conscious effort to import less plastic into their country.