Combatting a sense of helplessness
The climate crisis is a tough subject: many of us feel helpless in the face of it. For Recycle Week, WRAP challenged us to show how the climate crisis is something we can actually all do something about by embracing small but powerful recycling habits that really do make a difference. We’d need to cut through a febrile climate conversation, and drive action.
Small changes, big difference
We set out to make the cumulative power of recycling habits real. Recycling already saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year in the UK – that’s the same impact as taking 12 million cars off the road. Our campaign brought hard-hitting statistics like this to life alongside a single, powerful call-to-action: we asked the nation to Step It Up. Our messages were put to work across a wide range of activations including CO2-absorbing murals in major cities and a hard-hitting film – all championed by ambassadors Sara Cox and JJ Chalmers who helped garner the nation’s interest.
We stepped it up
Recycle Week was a huge success, with partner brands, local authorities, and citizens praising the campaign and its message. In just one week it achieved more than 29 million impressions online, 21,000 uses of #RecycleWeek and the highest ever awareness rating for the campaign. Most importantly however: the UK truly did step up. After seeing the campaign, 82% of people said they’d do something differently.
