The War on Waste

Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) is a publicly funded organization that runs ad-free content to and for the people of Australia. The War on Waste is a documentary series that airs on the network and encourages a behavioral change for single use plastics.

To promote the show’s second season, ABC wanted to engage Australians directly through face-to-face dialogue. To take the show’s message to the people and demonstrate the value proposition of the ABC to all Australians.

To change the behavior of many is a daunting task. People generally believe, “‘No one else is doing anything about it, so why should I?’ To break these habitual behaviors of convenience and desensitization, we needed to create a new social norm for the people of Australia. We needed to make plastic ugly again.

So, we created a life less plastic – an activation that tapped into the Australian culture for fashion, art, and living your best life without the use of plastic.

We set out on the road with our War on Waste branded vehicle, educating Australians and providing them with creative solutions to the biggest culprits of single use plastic waste: grocery bags and water/soda bottles. We handed out 4,000 reusable shopping bags and 5,000 refillable glass water bottles with four unique designs (developed by a local artist) that were an homage to nature and a life less plastic.

Over three days, we hit four high foot traffic locations. Our War on Waste Warriors were on hand to communicate core messages from the show and chat with participants about what can be done to make their life a little less plastic!

In the end, we reached nearly 4k Australians and #WarOnWasteAU was the second highest trending hashtag on Twitter in Australia.