Titanium.

A staggering 16,000 tons of waste is dumped in Hong Kong each day. Despite heavy penalties, littering remains a citywide problem.

One of the biggest problems in this incredibly law abiding society, is that litter is a faceless crime – if you don't catch someone red-handed, they go unpunished.

Partnering with local initiative Hong Kong CleanUp, on Global Earth Day, with the objective of creating social change to raise awareness about the extent of littering, pinpointing that each of us is responsible to some extent. Giving people a real reason to stop littering, beyond mere social consciousness. Through the campaign, we reminded people that littering is a real crime.

In advance of Earth Day 2015, litter samples were collected from high traffic areas. These samples were sent to Parabon Nanolabs, where DNA was extracted and analyzed – creating an exacting genetic profile.

With the objective of creating social change, creating awareness and ultimately changing behavior, the video and posts engaged over 3.9million people on Social Media across Twitter and Facebook, with the educational video having a total 827,546 views. The response from the public has been immense with the campaign spreading outside of Hong Kong and into South East Asia and even as far as the US and Brazil with an earned media value for the period of HK$5million.

In advance of Earth Day 2015, litter samples were collected from high traffic areas around Hong Kong. These samples were sent to Parabon NanoLabs, where DNA was extracted and analyzed – creating an exacting genetic profile. However, one piece of information the DNA cannot provide is age, so partnering with city ordinance and media agencies – we collected profiling information about the age of people relevant to each sample (i.e. Gum consumption is highest amongst adults aged 18-34years). Launching on Earth Day, the facial composites appeared as posters in outdoor locations surrounding high traffic areas, digital screens in MTR stations and back at the exact site of litter collection, the scene of the crime. Social media was included to support the campaign online – creating the ultimate name and shame campaign.

On Earth Day 2015, we created social change and raised awareness of the extent of littering across the city, pinpointing that each of its 7 million residents is responsible to some extent. This gave people a real reason to stop littering –litter is no longer someone else’s problem. The campaign puts a face to this anonymous crime.

Long-term the goal is to change behaviors and attitudes towards litter. We hope to expand this campaign beyond just Hong Kong into cities globally. It also allowed us to tactically respond if any hot spots for littering appeared.