Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Pollution cartoon

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pollution cartoon
Ethical investment illustration

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

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Hermit crab with tin can as a shell - 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

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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

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plastic pollution cartoon

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.

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Plastic pollution cartoon

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plastic pollution desert island 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.

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Environment cartoon book

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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

Air pollution cartoon

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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

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Oxygen cylinder tree cartoon

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
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Marine pollution cartoon – twenty-first century hermit crab

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Hermit crab using a tin can as a shell - cartoon

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

Environmental cartoon – packaging

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Environment 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.

An illustration about biodegradable packaging materials, litter, recycling, waste, consumerism, bio-decomposition, environmental impact
Cartoon reference number: env069b
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Environment cartoon. Toxic waste cartoon

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toxic waste container with flower - 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
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Cartoon. Taste, and other aesthetic values, are a matter of circumstance

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Cartoon. Rats looking at decaying food

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

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Cartoon - agrochemicals 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
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Illustration. Carbon footprints of the west and the developing world compared

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carbon footprints of developing and developed worlds compared - cartoon

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

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Environmental cartoon - Four Horsemen 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

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Environment cartoon. Filling a disused quarry with landfill  

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
How to obtain license to use cartoon

Environment cartoons: a cartoon about environment-friendly packaging

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Environment cartoon. Environment-friendly litter talking to animals

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
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Pollution cartoon. Evolution cartoon. Evolution from fish to humans, and the consequences

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Cartoon showing evolution from fish to humans

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
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cartoon copyright matters

Environment cartoons: China’s carbon footprint cartoon

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China 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