OCEANO AZUL FOUNDATION, OCEANÁRIO DE LISBOA AND OLÁ COME TOGETHER AGAIN TO REDUCE OCEAN POLLUTION
The Oceano Azul Foundation and Oceanário de Lisboa, in partnershop with Olá, have launched the second edition of the “If it doesn’t go in the bin it goes in the sea” campaign. The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness among of the important role that each person can play in reducing the amount of waste in the ocean, through changing their individual behaviour.
Through the three advertising films created in 2017 in partnership with Olá, the campaign aims to reach an even bigger audience, through increased media investment. In addition to the three generalist channels, the campaign will be on cable for the first time (SIC Notícias, TVI 24, Globo, Discovery, Hollywood, CMTV), with a strong digital campaign strengthening its message at 5,000 Olá points of sale.
The three stories portray everyday situations, in which when throwing a cigarette stub on the ground, a cotton bud into the toilet or a package onto the beach, characters involuntarily begin the real journey of these products until they reach the sea.
The “If it doesn’t go in the bin it goes in the sea” campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of placing waste in the correct location and to make people think about the negative and frequently inadvertent impacts of their habits. “Society in general does not know that waste thrown onto the ground, even at a considerable distance from the coast, ends up in the sea, sooner or later”, warns Tiago Pitta e Cunha, CEO of the Oceano Azul Foundation, explaining that “most people know that to pollute the ocean is negative, but people understand that much of the waste that reaches the ocean is not their responsibility, nor is it intentional. What we want with this campaign is to alert people about the need for every one of us to change our behaviour, preventing the deterioration of the marine environment”, he explains.
Pollution by plastics is one of the largest threats faced by the ocean. From 8 to 12 million tonnes of plastics reach the ocean each year, the equivalent to spilling a truck of plastic every minute. The effects are disastrous for biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with one million sea birds and a hundred thousand marine mammals dying every year, due to pollution by plastics (source: Unesco, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission). There is no doubt that much of the waste that reaches oceans is not intentional, but the result of lack of knowledge. The Oceano Azul Foundation, through this campaign, aims to encourages and involve the Portuguese in being clearly mobilised in favour of a sustainable Ocean.
The message is clear. Avoiding the use of disposable materials is our own choice. Each one of us has this responsibility and this power to change something. It is time for us all to act.
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