Reducing Ocean Plastic with Ecover

Written by Rachael B. - October 12, 2017

Fellow B Corporation Ecover UK is one of our dream clients, with whom we’ve been blessed to work on several exciting partnerships since we first redesigned their website.

In 2014, Ecover developed a limited edition washing up liquid bottle, with 10% of the plastic made with waste reclaimed from the sea. This was a world first, and its purpose was to highlight the increasing problem with the amount of plastic dumped in the sea. Since then, they have been working to increase the proportion of ocean plastic in these bottles and the result is their new Ocean Bottle, which is made with 50% ocean plastic and 50% recycled plastic.

 

In the next 30 years, the amount of plastic in our oceans is set to outweigh the number of fish, which presents a considerable health risk to marine life and the wider ecosystem. Ecover wants to make a real difference and we’re delighted to play our part in this mission with the launch of their new Ocean Plastic website.

Ecover’s Mission

Ecover is on a mission to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans, with its ultimate aim being to achieve completely plastic-free coastlines. The Ecover team have taken an active approach to tackling this issue with the development of their latest Ocean Bottle.

In order to make bottles with 50% ocean plastic, of course this plastic needs to be collected from the sea. So, Ecover teamed up with environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) to organise and promote bi-annual Big Beach Cleans across the UK, to remove plastic from our coastlines and reuse it for their new bottles.

Sharing the Ocean Plastic Story

When Ecover asked us to help them share their #oceanplastic mission and the story behind the Ocean Bottle, we were super excited to get involved. Living in a sustainable way has always been a big part of who we are as an agency, and any project that allows us to help businesses have a positive impact on the world always gets our creative juices flowing.

We were right behind the Ocean Plastic message from the start, getting involved along every step of the campaign. We already support SAS as members of their 250 Club and this year we attended one of the Big Spring Beach Cleans in the UK. We also did our bit to tackle plastic pollution further afield, with Co-Founders Tom and Vineeta joining Plastic Whale, partners of the Netherlands Ocean Plastic site (the equivalent of SAS in the UK), going plastic fishing along the canals of Amsterdam!

Clearing plastic from a local beach at the Big Spring Beach Clean
Plastic fishing on the Amsterdam canals
“Whale boat” – made from plastic fished from the canal!

Alongside this, we put our heads together to create a site that would do the ongoing campaign justice. It was clear from the outset that the visual narrative needed to be really strong, and that this would require a unique website, separate from the main Ecover UK website, while still being recognisable as the Ecover brand.

Cutting Edge Design

Using the latest in cutting edge WordPress wizadry, our designers created a brand new website that packs a real visual punch, sharing the Ocean Plastic story in an innovative way to truly engage the audience. Using a range of media, including custom animation for the timeline of the bottle design, videos sharing the mission and a custom designed social wall to make it easy for people to share, our developers worked hard to make sure the site is equally responsive and engaging across all platforms.

Take a look at our portfolio to check out the new site and see what you think! And of course we encourage you to get involved and support Ecover’s mission to turn the tides on #oceanplastic