The Philippines ranks third as the world’s top ocean polluter. The country also happens to be a global center for marine biodiversity, with more marine species per unit area than any other place on the planet.

To push for a strong Global Plastics Treaty set in black and white, Filipinos first needed to be made aware of just how grave the issue of plastic pollution has become.

We depicted the threats of plastic to wildlife through a series of disconcerting images by acclaimed local photographers. They showed what appeared to be lifeless animals washed ashore, rendered in haunting black and white. However, by scanning the accompanying QR codes on posters and print ads that led to an interactive microsite or watching the transformative videos on social media, these carcasses were revealed to be life-size replicas made from used plastic.

Filipinos have become blinded by the color plastic has brought to their lives— leading them to see only how attractive, affordable, and convenient it is.

Things are clearer in black and white. So to kick off the Black and White campaign, we created life-size replicas of dead animals using trash, and had them captured by acclaimed local photographers and turned into black and white.

These black and white images were released as print ads and posters, with accompanying QR codes that led to an interactive microsite where the colors set back in, revealing the animals are actually art pieces made of plastic waste.

Photojournalists, environmental advocates, and other personalities also shared the black and white images on social media, along with videos that showed the colors flooding back in.

The plastic installations were then set up in schools, churches, and oceanside communities all over the Philippines.

Now that people were seeing plastic pollution in black and white, they were then encouraged to show their support for a Global Plastics Treaty that does the same to help put an end to plastic overproduction.

Soon, the Black and White campaign will go global to gain more traction ahead of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4).

In time for Plastic-Free July 2023, Greenpeace Philippines launched the Black and White campaign, a showcase of haunting images of dead sea animals in black and white released through a series of print ads and outdoor posters.

Each copy contained a QR code to scan. This leads to a website that turns the images into full color, revealing that they are actually art installations made entirely of plastics. To make it work, we employed a combination of production design and photography. We collected plastics from the shore and segregated them via the hue of their color in grayscale. Designers meticulously sculpted the artworks to get the desired effect.