9 billion tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year and by 2050 there will be more plastic than fishes in the ocean. National Geographic wanted to take its "Planet or Plastic?" campaign forward, by encouraging even more people to rethink their consumption and take the pledge on natgeo.com/planetorplastic. But, as a pioneer brand on carrying about the planet, we needed to create an anti-plastic campaign that talked about that issue in a way no brand has ever done before.

There are countless nature songs with millions of plays on streaming platforms, but none of these draw attention to the human impact on nature. On World Water Day (03/22), National Geographic released Sounds of Future Ocean, a 4-track album with ocean sounds made only with plastic removed from the ocean itself. We launched an integrated campaign based on the power of sounds to make people think about their consumption and don't let the ocean be plastic. The songs are available on all music streaming platforms, the TV and Radio spots were aired on Latin America, and a vinyl disc was created using the same plastic waste and exposed at Lollapalooza Brazil. Summing up: instead of showing images of the planet affected by plastic, we made people listen to nature once and for all.

We know that a lot of brands are talking about the plastic crisis in the world, so we decided to try a new way, by using songs as a media to spread our message. We took National Geographic's "Planet or Plastic?" campaign to the letter and recreated ocean sounds exactly as they are, but using only plastic removed from the ocean itself. The album Sounds of Future Ocean was launched on World Water Day (03/22), using this iconic date to amplify our songs reach and make people take the pledge on natgeo.com/planetorplastic.

First, the plastic waste was removed from the ocean and taken to a recording studio. The ocean sounds were recreated using cinema technique called "foley" and represent each of the environments most affected by plastic: beach, open sea, glacier and deep ocean. Waves are plastic bags, seagulls are candy packaging, dolphins are styrofoam, bubbles are bottle caps and so on. All the tracks were recreated to sound exactly like the said environment, getting people into an immersive experience during the whole song. At the end of every track, a message explains what was used to create these sounds, making people aware about the future of the planet and inviting them to rethink their consumption. The album is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Tidal and Napster. Sounds of Future Ocean is part of the "Planet or Plastic?" campaign from National Geographic, a centenary brand that lives for the planet and the society. The campaign invites people to rethink their consumption and take the pledge on natgeo.com/planetorplastic. More than 170,000 pledges were signed and 210,000,000 plastic items reduced to date.

Sounds of Future Ocean conquered media's attention around the world, even though it was focused on Latin America. The campaign featured in some prestigious vehicles (Yahoo, GQ, Estadão, MTV, Campaign, Infobae, El Universal), being covered by more than 150 websites and reaching 6 million people in only 2 days. Our campaign was shared by different audiences, reaching one of the biggest names of environmental journalism (André Trigueiro), celebrities (Axel) and brands (Suzuki). On natgeo.com/planetorplastic, the number of signed pledges increased 20%, representing more than 15 million plastic items reduction. The album was listened thousands of times on all streaming platforms, engaging people while they were listening to nature sounds and placing the plastic crisis debate on the spotlight in a whole new way.