Pass the salt…or more likely microplastic

It seems you can’t watch a screen or read a newspaper without seeing consistent dire warnings about the crisis our fragile planet faces, particularly regarding single-use plastic pollution.

Cutting through the alarming statistics and images is increasingly difficult, as more and more people are turning away from the relentless cycle of depressing news that fills their feeds. So a timely, gentle but powerful message presented by sustainability group Green is the New Black, with help from Dentsu Singapore, could do the trick.

Inspired by trying to the make the plastic crisis relatable to people’s daily lives, the campaign focuses on the frankly terrifying insight that 90% of the world’s salt—something all of us take for granted and certainly shouldn’t feel afraid of­—contains microplastic, miniscule plastic particles that are readily entering the oceans and now our food chain.

Dentsu and Green is the New Black used recycled plastic to 3D-print miniature single-use plastic objects, and put them in salt grinders. These were then placed at restaurants across Singapore, allowing consumers to interact with them by, well, trying to grind salt on their meals.

“‘Plastic Salt’ is a simple but powerful idea that is showcasing just how bad the issue is and showing that it’s coming directly back to us—we are literally eating plastic every single day. And we have no idea what the long-term effects are going to be on us and our future generations,” said Stephanie Dickson, founder of Green is the New Black.

The idea is to get people and businesses to change their habits to reduce plastic usage. Ad Nut is fully behind such an important cause, and salutes the efforts in this campaign to surprise and inform consumers to change, rather than shock-and-awe them into ambivalence.

CREDITS

Green is the New Black:
Stephanie Dickson, founder 

Dentsu Singapore:
Ted Lim, chief creative officer
Andy Greenaway, executive creative director
Mark Ringer, creative director
Trevor Lim, head of art
Guilet James Libby, senior copywriter
Jenn Perng Chong, senior art director
Chloe Rees, partnerships director & social impact lead 

3D printing:
QwikFab
Steve K K

Video production:
The Momentum

Photography:
Nemesis Pictures

Digital imaging: 
Miracle Factory

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