Social Media = Eco-Friendly

As you probably already know, environmental issues are of particular importance to me. I grew up in a very rural town and spent a majority of my childhood playing in the fields and woods of my backyard. Because of this, I have a strong connection with the natural world.

While many of us, including myself, enjoy modern technological advancements such as cars, we often forget the negative effects they have on nature. However, not all hope is lost. If we can pull together a majority of the human population in a directed effort to undo some of the damage we have done to this planet, it could have a significant impact. What a better way to do so than through the use of social media.

Many individual environmentalists, environmental organizations, large companies, and even celebrities have take to social media to spread awareness and induce change for a variety of different environmental issues. Of the many problems facing nature, one that I think is a very good candidate for a social media campaign would be littering. While I have seen this issue regularly covered in TV commercials, I have yet to see a widespread campaign for this on social media platforms.

Littering is obviously a huge issue and has a huge negative impact on the overall health of our planet. Not only does it ruin the natural beauty of the world, but it also has the ability to kill countless marine and terrestrial animals. Another important aspect about littering is that it is perhaps the easiest environmental issue to prevent. All it takes is everyday people PROPERLY disposing of waste they no longer need, and perhaps a friendly (or not so friendly) reminder on social media is just what we need to make this happen. While other environmental issues may require people to change their lifestyle or donate money, all this takes is a person taking a few seconds out of their day to throw their trash or recyclables in a can rather than on the street. This goal is much more achievable for this reason.

The way I see it, there are really 2 major ways to approach this campaign. The first is inspired by a man named Rob Greenfield and his campaign called "30 Days of Trash."

In this campaign, Rob wore every piece of trash that he produced for a span of 30 days and documented the entire experience on social media. This campaign was is extremely effective for two reasons. First of all, it is eye-catching and interesting. It's hard to believe that anyone could just look at that image and keep scrolling by without looking to learn more. Second of all, it is eye-opening and impactful. Watching this video makes us more cognizant of the amount of trash we produce, and therefore may inspire us to limit this amount.

We could easily derive a similar campaign to this, but gear it more towards proper disposal of trash. For example, perhaps the concept of the video would be creating massive artwork out of bottles found off the streets of a city. A team could go to NYC and collect as many bottles as it takes to create an enormous Empire State Building model. As the campaign gains momentum, we could travel to other cities, collect bottles from their streets, and create a feature unique to that city.

Unbeknownst to me, this idea has already been done. Above is a model of the Brooklyn bridge made entirely out of 5,000 plastic water bottles. The campaign encouraged people to ditch using single-use plastic water bottles.

This, of course, is much easier said than done. We would first need a small team that would be in charge of organizing and planning the event and campaign. We would also need a larger team to do the actual collecting and assembling of the bottles, an artist to aid in the construction of the models, and a cinematographer to film the collection of bottles and creation of the structure. Volunteers for this could be found by reaching out to established environmental organizations, whether they be local, national, or even international. It would also be important to reach out to environmental organizations for support and for spreading awareness. The EPA and DEC are two established and well respected organizations that would be worth reaching out to. If the video becomes popular enough, it may reach news headlines and even be spread by celebrities. This would help us in our goal of making everyday people more cognizant of how litter accumulates and how they can stop it from happening.

Another tactic would be to simply have a constant reminder to properly dispose of trash through powerful photos such as the one below.

This tactic is very similar to the one above, as it targets everyday people, encourages them to be more cognizant of trash disposal, and would require the backing of companies and celebrities to promote these messages. However, there are some key differences. This tactic would not require as many people as the one above. Rather, it would likely be a small group of creative environmentalists and photographers who plan images that would provoke an emotional, and thus behavioral, response. Another key difference is that it is imperative that this campaign contacts the social media companies to get these reminders to show up in everyone's feed. It could work similar to advertisements, but instead of being tailored to interest it should simply show up for everyone. That way, while people are looking through their feed, they can also be reminded of how one simple act can make a huge difference.

While these are just preliminary ideas, they do shed light as to how social media can be utilized to initiate a worldwide change. Technology may be one of nature's biggest threats, but it is also a major resource in trying to save it.

Works Cited/Consulted:

https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/22853/20160524/social-media-save-environment.htm

https://untappedcities.com/2018/06/22/replica-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-made-entirely-out-of-plastic-water-bottles-is-traveling-around-nyc/

https://econsultancy.com/five-brand-campaigns-that-took-a-stand-on-social-issues/

https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/litter-flytipping/social-media

https://www.meltwater.com/blog/copy-these-winning-environmental-social-media-accounts/