All around the world, the complications of microplastics have been documented to some degree. However, not everyone is aware of just how prominent microplastics have become in our day to day lives. Two siblings from the UK, Zara and Ashton, have been busy trying to change this - and it looks like they’re not set on giving up anytime soon.
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From an early age, both Zara and Ashton have been passionate about ocean and marine life, attending their first Ocean Heroes Virtual Bootcamp back in 2020. Zara, now aged 13, and Ashton, now aged 11, have progressed to launch their own website, known as Hidden Plastic. The site aims to educate and raise awareness about plastic pollution, encouraging others to join together in the fight to make a change for a plastic-free future.
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As well as encouraging people to help out in any way they can, the courageous pair have created a series of humorous videos to help educate people on the dangers posed by microplastics. Their emotive efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, with the duo recently being interviewed by Bille Eilish’s mother on an Instagram live, as well as landing coverage with Vox.
Despite having already achieved such impressive feats for their age, the young duo have no intentions of stopping. Alongside producing educational videos, they are also currently campaigning for corporations to chip in and help with the global plastic cleanup effort. In particular, they are pitching to corporations who leave behind considerable amounts of plastic waste from the sales of their products.
Their most recent campaign was covered by Vox ‘Now This’. For this campaign, the pair decided to target Pepsico, urging the brand to help to clean up the waste created by their products and hopefully sponsor a grand total of $15.5 million. The money will be used to help install 20 of The Ocean Cleanup Interceptors. These ‘interceptors’ are large vessels that work together, in order to help to both capture and prevent plastics from rivers reaching our oceans.
You can join the movement by emailing the CEO of PepsiCo (Ramon Lagurata) using this form, asking him to help with global plastic cleanup efforts, alongside using the hashtag #PepsiCleanupChallenge. The campaign will end at the start of November.
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Prior to their most recent campaign, the young and ambitious pair were planning to target Coco-ColaCo. However, by the time they were set to launch the campaign in 2021, Coco-ColaCo has already sponsored a total of 15 Interceptors, a vast improvement on the original amount of two that Zara and Ashton were targeting.
After achieving such remarkable feats, the pair are hoping to continue their progress through their various campaigns in a hope to eventually create a plastic-free world.