Fresh From The Field — Plastic Pile of Sh!t – By Special
For the month of April we’ve put a special focus projects and discussions around Design & Planet in alignment with our 2024 Autumn Conversations events.
Fresh from the Field is a weekly article series sharing the fresh and inspiring work of our Aotearoa Design Assembly community.
To visualise the observation that people treat plastic like sh!t, Special was brought on board by Better Packaging Co. to create a provocative idea that would draw attention to plastic waste. As their response, Special created a giant 4m high poo filled with plastic waste (roughly the same size as the 7.5 tonnes of plastic that enters the ocean every 30 seconds) and installed it on one of Australia’s busiest beaches.
Want to submit your own work to Fresh From The Field? Fill out the FFTF form here.
The brief
To support businesses making more sustainable choices that positively impact the planet and its people, Better Packaging Co. introduced the new POLLAST!C range. This innovative packaging solution is made from 80 to 100 percent recycled Ocean Bound Plastic pollution retrieved from Southeast Asia. The range has already rescued over one million kilograms of plastic waste, effectively recycling it into functional packaging solutions. The brief was to create a provocative idea that would draw attention to the amount of plastic that is dumped into our oceans every year, and show how POLLAST!C is part of the solution.
The Design Response
The UN reports estimate that every 30 seconds, a garbage truck sized pile of plastic is dumped into our oceans. A statistic like this is often hard for the average person to comprehend – which makes them easy to dismiss. So, to visualise the observation that the world treats plastic like sh!t, we distilled it into one unmissable installation – the Plastic Pile of Sh!t. Inspired by the widely popular poop emoji, we set out to craft and create a giant 4m high poo filled with plastic waste, roughly the same size as the 7.5 tonnes of plastic that enters the ocean every 30 seconds.
For maximum impact, we placed it on Australia’s busiest beach, Bondi, on World Environment day, June 5th 2023. Coinciding with the UN’s challenge to #BeatPlasticPollution, it also served as a confronting wake up call for us all to be better with our packaging. A simple and iconic symbol that transcends languages and borders.
The Design Team
SPECIAL
CEO/ CCO Tony Bradbourne
Executive Design Director / Partner Heath Lowe
Executive Creative Director Stu Mallarkey
Associate Creative Director Tom Johnson
Associate Creative Director Gareth Rice
General Manager John Marshall
Senior Business Manager Courtney Spillane
Chief Strategy Officer Rory Gallery
Strategy and CX Director Ursula Nichols
Head of Production Katie Mortensen
Producer Millie Costley-Deakin
Studio Manager Gavin Le Claire
General Manager – Special PR Kelly Grindle
New Zealand Publicist Amanda Vela
Australian Publicist Liz Hunt
PRODUCTION AGENCY — REVOLVER & THE GLUE SOCIETY
Direction & Artist Alice Cogin
Managing Director/ Co-Owner Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer/ Partner Pip Smart
Executive Producer Jasmin Helliar
Producer Melanie Booth
Production Manager Claire Salter
Cinematographer/ Photographer Jordan Maddocks
1st AD Jose Marquina
1st AC Charlie Slessar
2nd AC/ Data Harrison Joyce
B Camera Jonah Mclauchlan
Gaffer Paul Farley
Sound Recordist Predrag Malesev
Model Makers Yipee Ki-Yay
Runner Cyrus Pilko
Runner Aiden Treloar
Traffic Control CATO
https://nz.specialgroup.com/
@special_group (NZ)
SpecialGroup New Zealand (Li)
The Client Team
BETTER PACKAGING CO
Co-Founder / CEO Rebecca Percasky
Co-Founder / Chief Impact & Brand Officer Kate Bezar
Digital Marketing & Design Lead Hillie Chan
Client details
@betterpackagingco(IG)
https://www.nz.betterpackaging.com/collections/pollastic
