Design Idea #4: Mountains of Plastic Trash and the Plastic Bottle Infographic

I know that is not an appealing name, but after watching a "Story of Stuff" episode about plastic water bottles at http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-bottled-water/ we brainstormed a new design that has more to do with downcycling (plastic ending up in a landfill in a foreign country) than upcycling (finding new uses for plastic bottles).
Our design process progressed from reviewing the design parameters (the official race rules and the how to build section of the Baltimore Kinetic site) to a simpler but sturdier four wheel design. We briefly considered welding two tandem bicycles side by side, but Gabriel suggested that we modify and old four person pedal car called a "Surry."it looks something like this:

We discussed the Lorax again, and the need to build awareness about mindless consumption of bottled water as well as mindless disposal of plastic bottles. Two key images emerged from our design discussion: the mountains of plastic bottles in landfills, and the need for a bottle infographic depicting the amount of resources (including petroleum and water) used to manufacture and transport plastic water bottles. 

It is fascinating to listen to the artistic challenges of making "a mountain of plastic" into an aesthetic whole with symbolic value; how to create a large water bottle graphic on each side of the pedal car; and how to depict as a whole the lifecycle of the typical plastic water bottle. Where to put the information? Won't words and numbers get in the way of artistic images? How to mount the artwork to the chassis in a way that won't be dislodged when we splash into the Baltimore harbor? how will this thing float, anyway? Stay tuned for more…

Adventures of the Kinetic Sculpture Racing team!