How Fishtank became green – #recycleWeek

Did you know each year enough plastic is thrown away to circle the earth four times?

It is Global Recycling Week, so naturally we are going to be talking all things #recycling, specifically office related recycling. As a team, we understand the importance of recycling and know we can do more to help by educating ourselves and others on recycling within offices. Recycling at work not only helps improve a company’s reputation within the local community but also helps a business save money, as recycled products are cheaper and having a sustainable approach saves money in the long term. In fact, did you know on average 60-80%of office waste is paper? What about the fact that you can recycle printer cartridges as well as electrical equipment? These are just some of the top facts we have discovered when researching how to make Fishtank a greener agency and join the efforts as a team to improve our planet’s recycling habits. We were also trying to find out how we can utilise our specialist skills to help people join the recycling movement.

As a digital agency we know we can have an impact on our social media followers through creative, interactive visuals and storytelling. Our research has found striking and shocking photography that educates the audience and accompanies emotional-driven storytelling is very effective in social campaigns that truly influence the public. Usually showcasing a real-life picture of what is happening in the world today, for example, plastic washed up on a beach where children are playing or sea animals stuck in plastic packaging, these photos portray a horrific world, where living in the “Plastic Age” is the norm.

Clever imagery, animation or videos can impact followers’ thought process; a good example of a recent campaign was an image that circulated on Instagram, generated by @natgeo. National Geographic captured a seahorse swimming while clutching onto a used plastic cotton bud, one of many that are found floating in our oceans. National Geographic state; “This photo serves as an allegory for the current and future state of our oceans. What sort of future are we creating? How can your actions shape our planet?” This powerful and striking imagery saw a large engagement and reframed how some users think about the plastic they use and consumer on a regular basis. Link to the image here:

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A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on May 17, 2018 at 6:05am PDT

For Recycling Week 2018 we decided to create our own powerful statement. We’re never fishy – but fish and their wellbeing will always be close to our hearts. So we took Fishtank’s brand element, fishtail diving into water, something we love and are proud of, and re-imagined it as a plastic bottle sculpture to highlight that our sea life and ocean fauna and flora is at great risk. The tail is constructed only of the bottles we have used over the past 2 weeks, highlighting the sheer amount of plastic found in our waste bins and subsequently in our oceans where fish – and ultimately humans – consume plastic micro-particles every day.

We try and reduce the amount of plastic we use; for example we have a water cooler in the office to avoid our staff buying bottled drinks, we discourage the use of paper and collaborate entirely online; our office is also equipped in motion-triggered lights only to ensure no energy is being wasted. But we are aware we could be doing so much more! So we would like to hear from you and get inspired by your ideas on how we can improve our recycling habits and reduce the amount of waste we produce – because we know there is still so much more we can learn. So please feel free to give us a shout on social media with your recycling tips or email us your eco-knowledge at made@fishtankagency.com!

Would you like to get inspired by our clients’ recycling efforts? Check out BIU’s incredible mission to end all textile waste: LINK