Huge mud toilet sculpture unveiled at Glastonbury to warn against climate change
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A huge toilet sculpture made of mud has been revealed at Glastonbury Festival’s Worthy Farm this year.
Festival-goers will get to see the 2.5-metre high model which has been built using some of Glastonbury’s own mud, mixed with local Somerset sand and compost produced by the toilets at previous festivals.
Presented by WaterAid and coined The Big Bog, the sculpture can be found alongside four functioning “Good Loos” – environmentally friendly composting toilets run by the charity.
The model, located near the Pyramid Stage, took more than 40 hours to create and is there to highlight that one in five people across the world do not have access to decent sanitation.
The Big Bog, created by artists Sand In Your Eye, is intentionally susceptible to damage – cracking if it gets too hot or washing away in the rain.
This is a way of symbolising the climate crisis and how it continues to threaten millions of people’s access to basic needs such as clean water and toilets, according to WaterAid.
On top of the toilet is a model of one of WaterAid’s Loo Crew volunteers, Tim Lloyd, who is depicted sitting reading Glastonbury’s Free Press newspaper.
Mr Lloyd said that it was “an honour” to be a part of WaterAid’s model.
He said: “It’s shocking to think one in five people across the world don’t have access to a decent toilet while one in 10 have no clean water, and climate change is making life even harder for those living in poverty.
“It is an honour to be immortalised in mud here at Glastonbury and I hope it helps spread the message that everyone, everywhere deserves a clean, safe and reliable toilet.
“Whether it’s queuing for a drink, waiting to use a toilet, or not being as clean as they’d like, festivals remind people what it might be like for the millions of people who don’t have access to clean water or toilets.
“I’ll be spreading the message that we can all help make a difference to communities living on the front line of climate change.”
WaterAid’s toilet sculpture intends to raise awareness of its campaign, Climate Fight.
Tim Wainwright, chief executive at WaterAid, said: “We’re delighted to be returning to Glastonbury this year and hoping to make a big splash with the Big Bog.
“Toilets and mud are two things synonymous with festivals, and whilst this sculpture is a bit of fun, it relays an important message – the climate crisis is a water crisis, and it is threatening millions of people’s access to clean water and sanitation facilities.
“To ensure the world’s most vulnerable people have the tools to face all types of climate impacts from deadly heatwaves to devastating floods, we are calling on the UK Government to lead the way in putting access to reliable clean water and sanitation at the forefront of the climate change agenda.”
