Aquarium Conservation Partnership
Your last straw is the first step.
I got to partner with 22 aquariums, including Monterey Bay in California and Shedd in Chicago, to take action against harmful single-use plastics. It’s in our hands for a moment but for the animals who live in oceans, rivers, and lakes, our plastic pollution piles up and can last forever.
After narrowing down a few concepts with stakeholders we landed on First Step. The visuals were built to be flexible because it was going to be used differently in each location, while always being paired with with beautiful photography of the aquarium’s star species. All messaging was centered around encouragement, accessibility, and action.
We created a three level approach to get the largest reach: First, a social campaign to educate on the harmful effects of plastic in our water systems, ending with a week long plastic-free texting challenge. Over 150,000 people took the pledge in the first month. Second, loads of customizable environmental signage to connect patrons at the point-of-contact to drive collective behavioral choices away from the overuse of single-use plastic straws. And third, a digital toolkit for each aquarium to use on their channels.
2018
Blue State + Aquarium Conservation Partnership
Creative Director
⬛️ In-house
☑️ Agency
⬛️ Freelance
⬛️ Self-Initiated
Art direction
Branding
Copy writing
Web design
Comms strategy
Social media content
Environmental design
The FINAL FACT
Plastic straws don’t biodegrade under natural conditions, and they can’t easily be recycled due to their small size. Instead, they persist on our planet for hundreds of years — breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces without being assimilated back into the environment.