Save The Beaches- A 'Trashy' Hotel With A Message

This week, visitors to Rome's iconic Coliseum will be treated to an unusual sight. Right across the monument is a brand new hotel - built entirely out of beach trash!

The temporary structure called 'Save The Beaches Hotel', is the brain child of German artist Ha Schult, who is trying to raise awareness of the amount to trash we generate and leave behind on our beaches.

Created from 12 tons of trash that include toy cars, cans and exhaust pipes, all from European beaches, the three-bedroom, 2-bathroom work of art was open to guests for just a few days, from June 3rd to June 7th.

Among the guests who took advantage of this unusual abode that had no showers and only chemically treated bathrooms, was Danish model and environmental activist, Helen Christensen, who described it as striking work of art that really brought home the state of our beaches.

Another lucky guest, Allan Thompson, who won a free one-night stay in a competition, described the hotel as 'basic'. However, he enjoyed his stay, despite that fact that the roof leaked thanks to a downpour that night. He gave it a rating of three and a half stars.

This is not the first time Ha Schult has made a bold statement to raise awareness of the trash being generated world-wide. In 2002, he created an 'army' of trash sculptures and placed them in front of famous monuments like The Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. He believes that as 'We create rubbish, we become rubbish' and hopes to 'change the world, before it changes us!'

Sources: dailymail.co.uk,news.bbc.co.uk, www.fastcompany.com