Approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean in a year. For Hong Kong, this has continued to be a huge problem, especially with the rising threat of overtourism and popularity affecting its beaches. Despite this issue, Hong Kong has been producing more waste each year for the past decade – with little effort from locals or government to make a change.Hong Kong Cleanup and Ecozine wanted to draw attention to the problem in a way that would help anyone see what the world would come to if Hong Kong didn’t clean up its act.

Ecozine and Cleanup Hong Kong wanted to generate more people, whether locals or travellers, to participate in one of the largest cleanup activities in Hong Kong. Therefore, they wanted to put the problem in the hands of these people. Using a metaphor to show what the world could come to if Hong Kong doesn’t clean up its act, Ecozine and Cleanup Hong Kong decided to create souvenirs in the form of snow globes and named the Polluted Globes. What looks beautiful in a quick glance, unveils the ugly truth that these locations in the city can end up as polluted as the Polluted Globes. As a souvenir and constant reminder for people to understand the pollution problem, and scaled up to reach more people through different stores and shops around Hong Kong.

We targeted the 5 most polluted beaches in Hong Kong and activated a group of 100 volunteers to pick up the pollution found there. The materials led to the creation of Polluted Globes, with each globe designed to look exactly like the beach if the pollution continued. Partnering with local souvenir stores around Hong Kong, these Polluted Globes became souvenirs for people to take home to remind them of how they play a part. They were redirected to the online platform to sign up for the Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge.

We targeted the 5 most polluted beaches in Hong Kong and activated 100 volunteers to pick up the pollution. With the help of local artists Karen Tsang and Calvin Chung, Polluted Globes were created as a representation of what the world would come to if Hong Kong didn’t clean up its act. The waste collected from each beach were the only materials used to create the Polluted Globes, with each globe designed to look exactly like the beach if the pollution continued. The pollution included microplastic, plastic bags, plastic utensils, food packaging, plastic lids, plastic straw, Styrofoam, medical waste, fruit packaging, among other varietals. Partnering with souvenir stores around Hong Kong, these Polluted Globes became souvenirs for people to take home to remind them of how they play a part. They were redirected to the online platform to sign up for the Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge.

Based on public response, additional pieces of Polluted Globes will soon be created and placed in different retail outlets around Hong Kong. This campaign has also played a part in encouraging participation of the Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge that has engaged over 350,000 participants and cleaned up over 22,000,000 kg’s of trash.