Plastic straws are not recyclable and create long lasting damage to marine inhabitants. As New York City is home to many waterways, the Wildlife Conservation Society was in need of an effort to spread the word to diminish plastic pollution & influence legislation to pass a ban on single-use plastics in NYC. The challenge was that New Yorkers are inundated with messages telling them what to do every day. The messaging needed to set itself apart to be relevant to their daily routines. They needed to be empowered to take action, rather than feel like something was being taken away from them.

The creative idea to implement a grassroots initiative that put bodega & store owners in the spotlight as local advocates was fostered through the combination of a minimal budget and a great opportunity to empower all New Yorkers to take action. A multitude of PSA campaigns championing this cause were already in market and although their message was similar, the approach often fell flat due to the messaging structure. The creativity behind ‘Give A Sip’ was presented to store customers as a way for them to become actively involved in a movement that could change their city & their environment for the better.

The ‘Give A Sip’ strategy was to meet New Yorkers in one of their most frequented and quintessential habitats – bodegas. We enlisted bodega owners to become advocates to educate city dwellers in spaces where hundreds of plastic straws are distributed every day. Through in-store signage and a toolkit for each employee to inform customers on how they can make a difference in their daily lives, the concept capitalized on the prime real estate of NYC’s most populated convenience shops.

Wildlife Conservation Society brand ambassadors shared toolkits with bodega and store owners across all 5 boroughs – accounting for over 200 neighborhoods and more than 250 individual store partners. With a limited budget, the execution required grassroots implementation across the duration of the summer months in 2018. The goal was to position the legislation to ban single-use plastics at the top of New Yorkers’ minds leading up to the official vote. The strategic placement of the campaign allowed for maximum scale at minimal cost.

With over 200 neighborhoods participating across all 5 boroughs of NYC, the campaign created consistent dialogue and conversation about the dangers of single-use plastics and gained hundreds of petition signatures in return. The budget was limited to $15,000, however, the results spanned far beyond the budget capabilities. The campaign acquired enough buzz to gain attention from local legislation and congress members to continue pushing for the bill to pass. The awareness created and discussions elicited far exceeded the initial dollar spend for the campaign.