Campaign: rubbish idea sparks a new nation

Author: CIM COM

When it comes to sustainable living, humanity isn’t doing so well. We deplete finite fossil fuels, we cut down rainforests and we create waste which doesn’t biodegrade. Whilst important steps have been taken to slow climate change, and recycling has become a way of life, there are still issues which remain hidden from view and hence unresolved. The Plastics Ocean Foundation and LADbible are currently focusing on just such an under-the-radar environmental issue: plastics waste in the oceans. This issue has the magnitude of a country, with waste the size of France in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the sheer scale of the problem which inspired the campaign’s creative concept.

Campaign video

The campaign video features Ross Kemp to convey its hard-hitting message about pollution of the ocean and get this issue onto the public and political agenda.

What’s the problem?

Around eight million tonnes of plastic waste has got into the oceans. This pollution is causing problems now, for marine wildlife, and will impact on mankind further up the food chain.

What’s the big idea?

The campaign sets out its goal:

“There’s an area of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean that’s the size of France – and no-one is doing anything about it. So LADbible and the Plastic Oceans Foundation have gone to the United Nations to declare it as a country, give it a voice and help get this mess cleaned up.”

Here’s Trash Isles

The campaign aims to get official recognition for Trash Isles from the United Nations as a means to galvanise action for change in line with existing United Nations’ environmental charters.

This new nation has all the attributes required to be recognised as a nation, or at least the campaign claims it does:

• Defined borders
• Government
• Interactions with other states
• Permanent residents

Climate change activist and former US vice president Al Gore is lending his weight to the campaign by becoming the Trash Isles first permanent resident.

Trashy country brand

The new nation also has the country brand which gives it a national identity including:

• National flag - designed with a band of blue to represent the sea and white the sky, with a partially submerged green plastic bottle as its central emblem.
• Passport – with visuals showing Al Gore’s Trash Isles passport complete with front cover motto ‘The oceans need us’
• Stamps – ocean blue design with graphic images of marine wildlife entangled in plastic
• Currency – authentic-looking banknotes with more wildlife trapped in plastics and with the units of currency have been aptly named Debris.

Accessible public petition

The campaign uses the Change.org website as a platform to gather supporters’ signatures on a public petition to lobby for action. With enough backing the petition will be presented to the UN Secretary General.

The LAD bible provides a stirring call to arms, asking everyone concerned about plastic pollution to become a citizen by signing up to the petition at change.org

Read more on the LADbible campaign pages

Made for social shares

Designed for social sharing the petition had almost reached its target of 150,000 signatories at the time of writing. At a UN press conference in early October, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for The United Nations Secretary-General was asked about the Trash Isles bid to become a new nation. Aware of the ploy, he described the campaign as “a very innovative and creative way to bring attention to a problem that is often not seen, given the location of these piles of trash but a problem of polluting the oceans killing the life of the oceans is a very important one so as I said I think its creative and innovative but the chances of it being accepted are fairly nil.”

Agreed. But it’s a good point well made. And recalibrates our sensitivity to pollution in a way which sets the scene for positive change.