Pollution cartoons

Pollution cartoon

Pollution cartoon.

The cartoon shows the Global North and the Global South on a pair of scales, with the Global North producing most of the pollution. This pollution is drifting across and if affecting the Global South while the Global North remains relatively unaffected by its own pollution.

A cartoon that comments on over-consumption at Christmas.

Drawn: November 2023

Cartoon reference number: a959
Marine waste cartoon

A cartoon about marine pollution showing a hermit crab using an old tin can instead of a shell

The cartoon could be interpreted as showing wildlife desperately trying to adapt to a changed ecosystem.
A cartoon about waste recycling, household waste, wildlife in danger.

See an alternative version of this cartoon here.

Cartoon reference number: env094c
Air pollution cartoon

Atmospheric pollution cartoon.

A cartoon about air pollution, showing a person breathing using an oxygen cylinder in which the oxygen is being produced by a tree.

The cartoon is about the importance of preserving trees, other plants and basically all of the natural world, if only for our own good (as in the image). Of course the natural world is important in its own right, with or without us in it!

Original version: 1991
This version: September 2019

Cartoon reference number: env071d
Cartoon about plastic pollution

Plastic pollution cartoon.

The cartoon cliche of a desert island used to make a point about the pollution caused by plastic.

A person on a desert island throwing a message in a plastic bottle into the sea.

Cartoon reference number: a764b

There’s a colour version of this cartoon here.
Plastic pollution cartoon

Desert island plastic pollution cartoon.

A cartoon that uses the cartoon cliche of a desert island to make a point about the pollution caused by plastic.

The cartoon shows a person on a desert island throwing a message in a bottle into the sea.

Cartoon reference number: a764

There’s a black and white version of this cartoon here.
Environment 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
Air pollution cartoon

Air pollution cartoon

Showing a man using breathing apparatus to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a plant that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the cartoon is to convey the concept that plants are the lungs of the world, liberating oxygen from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis.
A cartoon about clear air, atmospheric pollution and toxic chemicals, smoke and smog

Original version created: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env071b
Atmospheric pollution cartoon. Breathing clean air in a polluted atmosphere

An environmental cartoon about air pollution

A cartoon showing a man using an oxygen cylinder to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a tree that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the illustration is to convey the concept that trees are the lungs of the world.
A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, clear air and toxic chemicals in the atmosphere, smog

Original version created: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env071a
Hermit crab cartoon – using a tin can instead of a mollusc shell

A cartoon about pollution of the oceans
Hermit crabs using old tin cans instead of mollusc shells

Pollution of the oceans causing habitat depletion and ecosystem damage
See an alternative version of this marine pollution cartoon here

Cartoon reference number: env094
Marine pollution cartoon – twenty-first century hermit crab

A cartoon about marine pollution
A hermit crab using an old tin can instead of a shell

One of the ideas behind this cartoon is that pollution of the seas and oceans will cause depletion of life such as marine snails, making it necessary for hermit crabs to adapt to using discarded rubbish as protection.
The cartoon could also be interpreted as showing wildlife adapting to a changed ecosystem.
A cartoon about waste recycling, household waste, wildlife in danger.

See an alternative version of this cartoon here.

Cartoon reference number: env094b
Environment cartoons – air pollution cartoon

A cartoon about air pollution from my environmental cartoons selection

A cartoon showing pollutants in the form of polluting black smoke issuing from a factory chimney.

Ref: a658
Pollution or carbon footprint cartoon

Environmental cartoon
Carbon footprint cartoon

An illustration about atmospheric pollution, industrial toxic emissions, smokestack industries

Smoke from a factory chimney forming into the shape of carbon footprints.

Cartoon reference number: env234
Environmental cartoon – packaging

Environment cartoons
Non-biodegradable packaging

A cartoon about environment-friendly materials.
A discarded polystyrene container talking to animals, saying that it likes nature so much that it’s decided to stay around for a long time.

An illustration about biodegradable packaging materials, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact

Cartoon reference number: env069b
Environment cartoon. Toxic waste cartoon

Toxic waste cartoon.
Flower growing in toxic waste container
The flower is wilting and dying

Cartoon showing a plant growing in a canister of toxic waste.
The flower has the earth as its centre, with its petals in the form of people.
The petals are falling off as the flower dies.

A cartoon about environmentalism, ecology, green politics, toxic chemical waste, pollution, silent spring, pesticides, ecological collapse

A previous version of this cartoon appeared in New Internationalist magazine some time in the 1980s.

Cartoon reference number: a329
Cartoon. Taste, and other aesthetic values, are a matter of circumstance

Cartoon about taste, both gastronomic and aesthetic. Showing that values and tastes that people (or rats) possess are dependant on circumstances, context and so on, and are not fixed or absolute.

Cartoon showing rats looking at a discarded, decaying, rotting piece of food covered with flies and thinking that it looks delicious and attractive. In such circumstances we as humans would be subject to the gag reflex or wretch reaction.

Cartoon reference number: rat131
Water pollution cartoon – agricultural chemicals polluting the water supply

Environmental pollution cartoons
Pollution by agricultural chemicals
Agrochemicals polluting the water supply

The cartoon shows a countryside scene with an old village pump outside a quaint cottage. However, agricultural practice in the local farmland has allowed toxic chemicals to seep into the aquifer and pollute the spring water, making the water supply undrinkable

The cartoon is inspired by the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
A cartoon about pesticide, herbicide, ddt, agrochemicals, pollution,

Cartoon reference number: env075
Environmental issues cartoons. Smoke from a factory chimney forming into carbon footprints

Environmental issues cartoon or illustration
Carbon footprint cartoon

A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, industrial toxic emissions, smokestack industries

Smoke from a factory chimney forming into the shape of carbon footprints

.
A similar cartoon is available here:
Carbon footprint cartoon

Cartoon reference number: env234
Illustration. Carbon footprints of the west and the developing world compared

Environment illustration
Carbon footprint cartoon

The carbon footprint of the west compared to the carbon footprint of the developing world. The west’s is much bigger.

The carbon footprint of the developed world is shown as a huge boot print, while the carbon foot print of the developing world is shown as a tiny foot print (a bare footprint in fact). This is to illustrate the fact that the west has a much larger impact on carbon levels than the developing world.

Cartoon reference number: env002
Environment cartoon. The Four Truck Drivers of the Apocalypse

Environmental cartoon
The Four Truck Drivers of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The cartoon shows lorries carrying cargoes that are symbolic of the ills of contemporary western society (with other societies fast catching up).
One lorry carries toxic waste, another logs from logging activity that is depleting the world’s natural resources, another carries weapons, arms and armament while the last one carries the catering facilities for the others – fast food or convenience food

Based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
A cartoon about environmental degradation, war, man made disaster, over consumption, resource depletion, the end of civilisation as we know it

Cartoon reference number: env048
Environment cartoon. A disused quarry used as a landfill site

Environment cartoon.

A disused quarry being used as a landfill dump for waste products.

A cartoon about environmental impact, indigenous peoples, exploitation, ecological impact, ecology,recycling, waste disposal, waste management.

For a colour version click here: Landfill cartoon

Cartoon drawn: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env068
Environment cartoons: a cartoon about environment-friendly packaging

Environmental cartoon
Environment-friendly packaging cartoon

For a more recent, colour version of this cartoon click here: Non-biodegradable packaging cartoon

A cartoon about environment-friendly materials. A discarded polystyrene container talking to animals, saying that it likes nature so much that it’s decided to stay around for a long time.

A cartoon about packaging, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact.
Drawn: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env069
Pollution cartoon. Evolution cartoon. Evolution from fish to humans, and the consequences

Evolution cartoon
Pollution cartoon

Cartoon showing evolution from fish to humans. The humans then pollute the water, forcing fish to leave the water and initiating a new phase of evolution in the fish

A cartoon about evolution, pollution, environment, ecology, industrial waste, effluent.

Cartoon reference number: env070
Environment cartoons: China’s carbon footprint cartoon

A cartoon from my selection of environmental cartoons
Carbon footprint cartoon
China’s carbon footprint cartoon

Editorial cartoon or illustration on the reason why China has a large carbon footprint – because it manufactures goods for the west

A cartoon about manufacturing in China, imports, experts, trade, pollution, consumerism, the consumer society, manufacturing, carbon credits

Cartoon reference number: env065
Air pollution cartoon: a tree creating clear air in a polluted atmosphere

Environmental cartoon: pollution cartoon.

How to breathe clean air in a polluted atmosphere (by using oxygen generated by trees and other plants.

A cartoon about pollution, clear air, trees as lungs of the world.

See another version of this cartoon
Original concept: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env071

Pollution cartoons

Pollution cartoon.

The cartoon shows the Global North and the Global South on a pair of scales, with the Global North producing most of the pollution. This pollution is drifting across and if affecting the Global South while the Global North remains relatively unaffected by its own pollution.

A cartoon that comments on over-consumption at Christmas.

Drawn: November 2023

Cartoon reference number: a959

A cartoon about marine pollution showing a hermit crab using an old tin can instead of a shell

The cartoon could be interpreted as showing wildlife desperately trying to adapt to a changed ecosystem. A cartoon about waste recycling, household waste, wildlife in danger.

See an alternative version of this cartoon here.

Cartoon reference number: env094c

Atmospheric pollution cartoon.

A cartoon about air pollution, showing a person breathing using an oxygen cylinder in which the oxygen is being produced by a tree.

The cartoon is about the importance of preserving trees, other plants and basically all of the natural world, if only for our own good (as in the image). Of course the natural world is important in its own right, with or without us in it!

Original version: 1991 This version: September 2019

Cartoon reference number: env071d

Plastic pollution cartoon.

The cartoon cliche of a desert island used to make a point about the pollution caused by plastic.

A person on a desert island throwing a message in a plastic bottle into the sea.

Cartoon reference number: a764b

Desert island plastic pollution cartoon.

A cartoon that uses the cartoon cliche of a desert island to make a point about the pollution caused by plastic.

The cartoon shows a person on a desert island throwing a message in a bottle into the sea.

Cartoon reference number: a764

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:

Air pollution cartoon

Showing a man using breathing apparatus to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a plant that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the cartoon is to convey the concept that plants are the lungs of the world, liberating oxygen from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis. A cartoon about clear air, atmospheric pollution and toxic chemicals, smoke and smog

Cartoon reference number: env071b

An environmental cartoon about air pollution

A cartoon showing a man using an oxygen cylinder to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a tree that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the illustration is to convey the concept that trees are the lungs of the world. A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, clear air and toxic chemicals in the atmosphere, smog

Cartoon reference number: env071a

A cartoon about pollution of the oceans Hermit crabs using old tin cans instead of mollusc shells

Cartoon reference number: env094

A cartoon about marine pollution A hermit crab using an old tin can instead of a shell

See an alternative version of this cartoon here.

Cartoon reference number: env094b

A cartoon about air pollution from my environmental cartoons selection

A cartoon showing pollutants in the form of polluting black smoke issuing from a factory chimney.

Environmental cartoon Carbon footprint cartoon

An illustration about atmospheric pollution, industrial toxic emissions, smokestack industries

Smoke from a factory chimney forming into the shape of carbon footprints.

Cartoon reference number: env234

Environment cartoons Non-biodegradable packaging

A cartoon about environment-friendly materials. A discarded polystyrene container talking to animals, saying that it likes nature so much that it’s decided to stay around for a long time.

An illustration about biodegradable packaging materials, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact

Cartoon reference number: env069b

Toxic waste cartoon. Flower growing in toxic waste container The flower is wilting and dying

Cartoon showing a plant growing in a canister of toxic waste. The flower has the earth as its centre, with its petals in the form of people. The petals are falling off as the flower dies.

A cartoon about environmentalism, ecology, green politics, toxic chemical waste, pollution, silent spring, pesticides, ecological collapse

Cartoon reference number: a329

Cartoon about taste, both gastronomic and aesthetic. Showing that values and tastes that people (or rats) possess are dependant on circumstances, context and so on, and are not fixed or absolute.

Cartoon showing rats looking at a discarded, decaying, rotting piece of food covered with flies and thinking that it looks delicious and attractive. In such circumstances we as humans would be subject to the gag reflex or wretch reaction.

Cartoon reference number: rat131

Environmental pollution cartoons Pollution by agricultural chemicals Agrochemicals polluting the water supply

The cartoon shows a countryside scene with an old village pump outside a quaint cottage. However, agricultural practice in the local farmland has allowed toxic chemicals to seep into the aquifer and pollute the spring water, making the water supply undrinkable

The cartoon is inspired by the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. A cartoon about pesticide, herbicide, ddt, agrochemicals, pollution,

Cartoon reference number: env075

Environmental issues cartoon or illustration Carbon footprint cartoon

A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, industrial toxic emissions, smokestack industries

Smoke from a factory chimney forming into the shape of carbon footprints

Cartoon reference number: env234

Environment illustration Carbon footprint cartoon

The carbon footprint of the west compared to the carbon footprint of the developing world. The west’s is much bigger.

The carbon footprint of the developed world is shown as a huge boot print, while the carbon foot print of the developing world is shown as a tiny foot print (a bare footprint in fact). This is to illustrate the fact that the west has a much larger impact on carbon levels than the developing world.

Cartoon reference number: env002

Environmental cartoon The Four Truck Drivers of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse A cartoon about environmental degradation, war, man made disaster, over consumption, resource depletion, the end of civilisation as we know it

Cartoon reference number: env048

Environment cartoon.

A disused quarry being used as a landfill dump for waste products.

A cartoon about environmental impact, indigenous peoples, exploitation, ecological impact, ecology,recycling, waste disposal, waste management.

For a colour version click here: Landfill cartoon

Cartoon drawn: 1991

Cartoon reference number: env068

Environmental cartoon Environment-friendly packaging cartoon

A cartoon about environment-friendly materials. A discarded polystyrene container talking to animals, saying that it likes nature so much that it’s decided to stay around for a long time.

A cartoon about packaging, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact. Drawn: 1991

The cartoon could be interpreted as showing wildlife desperately trying to adapt to a changed ecosystem.
A cartoon about waste recycling, household waste, wildlife in danger.

Original version: 1991
This version: September 2019

The Beast That Ate the Earth
Environment cartoon book

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:

Part of the idea behind the cartoon is to convey the concept that plants are the lungs of the world, liberating oxygen from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis.
A cartoon about clear air, atmospheric pollution and toxic chemicals, smoke and smog

Part of the idea behind the illustration is to convey the concept that trees are the lungs of the world.
A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, clear air and toxic chemicals in the atmosphere, smog

A cartoon about pollution of the oceans
Hermit crabs using old tin cans instead of mollusc shells

A cartoon about marine pollution
A hermit crab using an old tin can instead of a shell

Environmental cartoon
Carbon footprint cartoon

Environment cartoons
Non-biodegradable packaging

A cartoon about environment-friendly materials.
A discarded polystyrene container talking to animals, saying that it likes nature so much that it’s decided to stay around for a long time.

Toxic waste cartoon.
Flower growing in toxic waste container
The flower is wilting and dying

Cartoon showing a plant growing in a canister of toxic waste.
The flower has the earth as its centre, with its petals in the form of people.
The petals are falling off as the flower dies.

Environmental pollution cartoons
Pollution by agricultural chemicals
Agrochemicals polluting the water supply

The cartoon is inspired by the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
A cartoon about pesticide, herbicide, ddt, agrochemicals, pollution,

Environmental issues cartoon or illustration
Carbon footprint cartoon

Environment illustration
Carbon footprint cartoon

Environmental cartoon
The Four Truck Drivers of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
A cartoon about environmental degradation, war, man made disaster, over consumption, resource depletion, the end of civilisation as we know it

Environmental cartoon
Environment-friendly packaging cartoon

A cartoon about packaging, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact.
Drawn: 1991

Evolution cartoon
Pollution cartoon

A cartoon from my selection of environmental cartoons
Carbon footprint cartoon
China’s carbon footprint cartoon