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Other environment cartoons

  • Ethical investment illustration

    Ethical investment illustration

    An illustration or cartoon about ethical investment.

    The illustration shows a person putting a coin with a map of the world on it into a piggy bank.

    The piggy bank symbolises investment and the coin symbolises the world.
    Drawn: July 2022
    Cartoon reference number: a952
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  • A cartoon about throw away fast fashion

    Fast fashion or throw away fashion illustration

    An environmental illustration or cartoon about fast fashion.

    The illustration shows a person wearing “slow fashion” clothes instead of “fast fashion” clothes.

    Throw away fashion or fast fashion is a form of fashion where clothes are made very cheaply so that they are cheap to buy and easy to throw away after very little use – maybe even just one night out.
    Drawn: July 2022
    Cartoon reference number: a951

  • Bioplastics cartoon

    bioplastic packaging cartoon - bioplastic pea pods

    Bioplastics cartoon

    In this cartoon the cellulose of the pea pod has been modified to form plastic packaging.
    Plastics produced from plants are known as bioplastics.

    Bioplastics are in some ways a good substitute for plastics produced from oil, however they may have a downside in that if they were extensively used vast amounts of agricultural land may have to be set aside for the production of plastics instead of food.
    Original version drawn: 1999
    Cartoon reference: env116b

  • Inkblot test of contemporary anxiety

    inkblot test of contemporary anxiety - cartoon

     

    Inkblot test of contemporary anxiety.

    In the 1960s during the Cold War the major anxiety in the western world was the potential destruction of civilisation by nuclear weapons.

    In the twenty-first century it is the threats to the environment caused by excess human activity.

     

    The cartoon shows a Roschach test being interpreted as the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion by someone in the 1960s and as a tree by someone today.

    Drawn: 2013
    Cartoon reference number: a334b

     

  • New Year 2020 cartoon predicts bad year ahead (Drawn before the Covid-19 pandemic was foreseen!)

    Happy New Year 2020 father time tripping

    New Year 2020 cartoon – prediction of a very bad year ahead.
    When I drew this, in 2019, who’d have known 2020 would be such a bad year due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

    The cartoon shows the old year 2019 (Father Time) pushing the baby New Year 2020 in a baby buggy. Father Time is tripping over the base of a Happy New Year sign, sending the new year rushing forwards out of control towards a cliff edge.

    Cartoon drawn: December 2019
    Cartoon reference number: a770

  • Environmental art cartoon – biodegradable art

    Environmental art cartoon – biodegradable art

    An environmental art cartoon, showing a piece of contemporary artwork that is 100% biodegradable.

    Because the sculpture depicted in the cartoon is biodegradable it will have a limited lifespan that will make it unappealing to art collectors (never mind art conservators).

    A cartoon about the art market, art conservation, environmentalism, transient art, gallerists. I’ve been producinng work about environmental issues since the 1970s.

    Cartoon drawn: 2019

    Cartoon reference number: art035
    This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
    See the book here.
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  • Environment cartoon book

    Environmental cartoon book

    The Beast That Ate the Earth
    Environment cartoon book

    Versions of many of the environmental cartoons on this site can be found in my book, The Beast That Ate the Earth.

    I’ve been drawing cartoons on environmental matters since the early 1970s.
    The book was published in 2004 and contains about a hundred cartoons in black and white.

    The book is available through Amazon.
    Such as at:

    Amazon UK

    Amazon USA

    Amazon Germany

  • Driving into a worrying future

    driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

    A car driving off the end of a road – symbolising the human race hurtling towards an uncertain future of its own making.

    The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

    The road in this cartoon symbolises the human race’s road into the future, while the car is a metaphor for the human race itself, accompanied by its technological ‘life support system’.
    The message is meant to be that if we’re not careful it will all end very badly.
    This isn’t an anti-technology or anti-progress cartoon by the way – it’s just a view of how things might go if we aren’t careful.
    Original version created: 2016
    Cartoon reference number: a739

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  • A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

    driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

    A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

    The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

    This cartoon is about the inherent danger in the advance of technology (here symbolised by cars, transport systems sat-nav) and other aspects of human progress. The further we progress, the greater the consequences of anything going wrong, especially if we put too much faith in technology and, as here, follow it uncritically.
    Drawn: 2016
    Cartoon reference number: a740

  • Will increased gmo food yields cause human population increase?

    gmo food cartoon

    A cartoon dealing with the issue of genetically modified crops increasing crop yield to feed more people

    The cartoon shows scientists considering the consequences of increasing food yields and the possible resulting population increase.

    A cartoon about gmo, genetically modified organisms, human population increase.
    Original version created: 2012
    Cartoon reference number: a677

  • Environmental cartoon – a rubbish skip (dumpster) as a boat

    Rubbish skip boat - cartoon

    A dumpster as a lifeboat – cartoon or illustration

    A cartoon showing a dumpster or rubbish skip used as a lifeboat or escape vessel by a family escaping from somewhere – probably from all of the waste generated by the consumer society

    First version drawn: 1991

    Cartoon reference number: a445

  • Over-population illustration

    over population graphic

    Global overpopulation cartoon
    Population crisis or the overpopulation tsunami

    An illustration about the crisis of overpopulation that is threatening the ecology of the planet

    The world’s population is rising at an unsustainable rate, putting pressure on the earth’s resources and threatening its biosystem due to habitat loss
    Cartoon reference number: a611

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  • Global overpopulation cartoon

    population explosion

    Population explosion cartoon

    A cartoon about the fact that the rise in the human population is threatening the ecosystem of the earth.
    The population is becoming increasingly unsustainable

    Cartoon drawn: 2013
    Cartoon reference number: a618

  • Environmental illustration

    Environment cartoon - watering a flower that represents the world

    Caring for the environment cartoon
    Watering a flower that represents the earth.

    An illustration showing the earth in the form of a flower, being watered

    A cartoon about caring for the planet and the environment
    Cartoon reference number: a552
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  • Environment cartoon – earth as a balloon

    Environment cartoon - the earth as a balloon jettisoning consumer products

    Environment cartoon – earth as a balloon

    An illustration showing the earth as a passenger balloon, with people throwing consumer goods over the side in order to keep afloat.
    The idea is that the human race needs to jettison its dependence on consumer goods.

    The concept behind the illustration is a little similar to the ‘spaceship earth’ metaphor
    Cartoon reference number: a550
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  • Environment cartoons – a man eating the earth

    man eating the earth cartoon

    One of my environment cartoons – showing a man devouring the earth

    The cartoon shows the earth in space as a globe, being eaten by the gigantic man

    The image is an illustration of the way that the human race is destroying the planet by over consumption and over population. Over population is implied by the giant size of a single human who is devouring the earth’s resources.
    Cartoon reference number: a513
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  • Why animals become extinct – cartoon

    reason why animals became extinct - cartoon

    An extinction cartoon – the reasons why creatures become extinct

    A cartoon showing a reconstruction of an extinct animal, with scientists asking why the creature became extinct.
    The creature had many features that would have made it very useful to prehistoric man – huge ivory tusks, luxurious fur and tender flesh. Obviously it was hunted to extinction by early hunters

    A cartoon dealing with endangered species, palaeontology, fossils and hunter gatherers

    Cartoon reference number: a469

  • Environmental cartoon of the earth in an hourglass

    hourglass earth cartoon

    The Earth in an hourglass – environmental cartoon
    The end of the world is nigh!

    In the cartoon the earth is pouring through the hourglass, showing that time is running out for the world as a result of environmental pressures.
    The metaphor of the hourglass is particularly relevant to the exploitation of the earth’s natural resources (such as minerals and fossil fuels that are mined), as it is these minerals that are slipping through the hourglass in the image

    A cartoon about climate change, global warming and mineral resource depletion.
    The original version of this cartoon was drawn in 1991 for my book When Humans Roamed the Earth, published by Earthscan/WWF, and is also in my book The Beast That Ate The Earth.

    See an alternative version of this cartoon

    Cartoon reference: a467b
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  • Environment illustration – the Earth slipping through an hourglass

    Environment cartoon - Hourglass Earth

    An environmental cartoon showing the Earth slipping through an hourglass like grains of sand

    The earth is pouring through the hourglass like sand, showing that time is running out for the world as we know it, as a result of anthropogenic environmental degradation.
    The metaphor of the hourglass is especially relevant to the over use of the earth’s natural resources such as minerals and fossil fuels that are obtained by mining, as it is these minerals that are slipping through the hourglass

    An illustration about climate change, global warming, resource depletion and mineral use.
    The image was first drawn in 1991

    See an alternative version of this cartoon

    Cartoon reference number: a467

  • Environment cartoon – environmental forecasting

    globe falling in rubbish bin cartoon

    Environment cartoon – environmental forecasting

    A cartoon showing the earth or globe dropping off its mount and falling into a rubbish bin.
    The globe is in the office of an organisation called “The Institute of Environmental Forecasting” (a fictitious organisation as far as I know)

    This is a cartoon about predictions of the future of the world as a result of man-made or anthropogenic environmental changes such as global warming, climate change, resource depletion, species extinction, human population increase – the list goes on!

    This cartoon was later developed into a three dimensional artwork that you can see on my contemporary art website.

    Cartoon reference number: a464

  • Anthropocene cartoon – mass extinction events

    iridium layer anthropocene cartoon

    Anthropocene cartoon
    Is the human race heading for a mass extinction event?

    A cartoon showing geological rock strata and fossils, including the iridium layer that appeared at the time of the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

    The rock strata also include a layer of manufactured waste that is directly above the layer of rock that contains fossils of humans

    The implication is that while the event that created the iridium layer destroyed the dinosaurs, the event that created the layer of anthropogenic waste destroyed the human race.
    The current geological era or epoch is sometimes referred to as the anthropocene, as the major influence on the environment is the human race.
    An earlier version of this cartoon appeared in my book of environmental cartoons, When Humans Roamed the Earth, published by Earthscan/WWF in 1991

    Cartoon reference number: a458

  • Recycling cartoon. Woman putting man in recycling bin

    man in recycling bin cartoon

    Recycling waste cartoon
    Woman putting man in recycling bin

    A cartoon showing a woman thinking of putting her partner or husband into the recycling waste. He is standing idly thinking of sport while she is busy doing the household chores (in this case doing the recycling by visiting the local recycling centre).

    As well as being about recycling and sustainability the cartoon is about gender differences, couple incompatibility, partner resentment

    Cartoon reference number: a456

  • Save the smallpox virus cartoon – save the whale cartoon

    smallpox virus cartoon

    Fish stock depletion cartoon

    A cartoon parody on Save the Whale T-shirts and other T-shirts with slogans or messages on them, especially ones with a moral dimension to them
    It’s also a comment on our attitudes to different animal species, and about which ones we want to save (usually cute, cuddly, furry ones).

    The cartoon draws attention to the concept of ‘poster species’, or animal species that are used for campaigning purposes for environmental issues. (This cartoon isn’t a criticism of this tendency, which is a natural human tendency due to our evolutionary responses to the natural world.)
    A cartoon about animal rights, speciesism.

    Cartoon reference number: a453

  • Fish stock depletion cartoon. Over fishing cartoon

    world map - fish pond - cartoon

    Fish stock depletion cartoon
    Over fishing cartoon

    Cartoon of a man fishing in a pond, and complaining that there aren’t any fish left to fish.
    The pond is in the form of a map of the world

    The pond in the cartoon is a metaphor for the oceans of the world.
    The concept is that people have in the past (and even today) thought of the earth’s oceans as being almost endless and full of unlimited supplies of fish. While in fact the oceans are relatively small, especially when the rising human population puts so much pressure on the fish stocks
    Cartoon reference number: a452
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  • Ship of Fools cartoon – the earth heading for disaster

    globe - Ship of Fools cartoon

    Ship of Fools illustration

    Is the earth, and the human race, heading for disaster (because people seem to be only capable of short term planning)?

    An environmental cartoon showing the earth as a ship, represented by half a globe, with people on the deck enjoying themselves, oblivious of the fact that they are steering the world towards catastophe

    The illustration shows the world’s population as the passengers and crew of the Ship of Fools (or the fools on the ship)

    First version drawn: 1991

    Cartoon reference number: a449

  • Noah’s ark cartoon – why there are no unicorns

    Why there are no unicorns - Noah ark cartoon

    Noah’s ark with unicorns cartoon

    Why the unicorns didn’t get into Noah’s ark

    A comic illustration showing animals going into Noah’s ark, with men dressing up as pantomime horses in order to be stowaways on the ark, after having tied up the unicorns
    The image is about mythological creatures, species extinction, extinct animals, endangered species.
    Original version drawn: 2001
    Cartoon reference number: un444

  • Bottled water cartoon – and the developing world water supply

    Water carrier - desert and bottle - cartoon

    Water supply cartoon – bottled water

    An illustration commenting on the difference between the water supply in the developing world and the water supply in the developed world.
    A comparison between lifestyles in the first world and the third world
    The cartoon points out the huge distances over which bottled water is transported

    A image shows a developing world woman carrying water on her head for a long distance, compared to a plastic bottle of water
    Cartoon reference number: a443

  • Global financial crisis graph – editorial illustration

    downward financial graph cartoon

    Editorial illustration about financial recession – downward graph with a globe bouncing down the slope of the graph.

    An illustration about the world financial crisis.

    An editorial illustration about global finance, world recession and global crisis in general
    Cartoon drawn: 2013
    Cartoon reference number: a389

  • The trouble with progress – cartoon. The end of the road

    progress end of road - cartoon

    The trouble with progress – cartoon.
    The end of the road.

    A cartoon showing progress coming to an end and suddenly ‘running out of road’.

    The concept behind the cartoon is that progress gives us lots of advantages (cars, roads and bridges in this illustration), but that it also puts us into a position of peril when the source of the progress suddenly disappears. This could be due to resource depletion, scarcity of materials, political instability, over-consumption, natural disaster, global warming, climate change.
    So in this cartoon the road on the bridge (which is a metaphor for progress) suddenly comes to an end, and the car (which is another metaphor for progress) plunges off the end, taking its passengers with it.

    This isn’t an anti-progress, back to nature cartoon. I’m a great believer in progress. It’s just that it has to be approached carefully, and we aren’t doing that.

    Cartoon reference number: a375
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  • Desert mirage cartoon – an hourglass pouring sand into the desert

    hourglass creating desert cartoon

    Desert mirage cartoon – an hour glass pouring sand into the desert, creating the desert

    Cartoon of a man crawling through a desert, seeing a mirage

    There may be a meaning to this cartoon related to global warming. Perhaps the hourglass, which is an illusion, represents the concept of climate change denial (where man made climate change is said to be an illusion). However, despite the fact that man made climate change is said to be an illusion the deserts are still getting bigger (and the polar caps smaller).

    Cartoon reference number: a360