The idea proved to have enormous promotional power. It rallied:

- Citizens, who support Plastic Whale with funding and physical help: literally fishing for plastic during our annual ‘Traditional Amsterdam Plastic Fishing’ event.

- Companies, who support Plastic Whale with funding, expertise and media, which we used to help spread our message.

- Governmental organizations, who support Plastic Whale with permits and help.

Plastic Whale is currently being copied by communities around the world, thus giving a local activation global significance.

From the very beginning we knew design would be one of the project’s key elements. There was no budget for paid media, so we’d have to rely on the goodwill of the city’s citizens, enterprises and organizations to help spread the message and provide practical support. A thoroughly likeable identity was a must.

A logo that stole the hearts of many

We created a very accessible logo that attracted attention but also made our partners – including government organizations – proud to make it part of their own internal and external communication.

An engaging activation: traditional Amsterdam Plastic fishing

We turned the actual plastic collection into an engaging event called ‘Traditional Amsterdam Plastic Fishing’. Thousands of citizens joined us on small boats and along the canals fishing out plastic for our sloop. This activation gave us both high visibility and free PR.

A boat with a design worthy of Amsterdam’s canals

Not just a boat, but also a proud symbol of what can be achieved by plastic fishing. A boat that everyone would love to see and be seen in. A real Amsterdam sloop, a floating billboard for Plastic Whale and all the partners that made the boat possible.

Plastic Whale activated citizens, enterprises and governmental organizations to provide funding, issue permits and physically help our cause. The results are:

Three sloops are now floating in the Amsterdam canals

Our funding was garnered via crowd funding on Facebook. We raised 20.000 Euro’s three months.

4 x we organized Traditional Amsterdam Plastic fishing.

4 x we organized ‘Old-Fashioned Amsterdam Plastic Fishing’, our public event. During the last edition more than 12.00 people on 72 boats participated.

11 commercial plastic fishing permits have been issued to plastic Whale.

In just four years time plastic fishing is now a prosocial and profitable trade!

19 companies are currently supporting our goal

These companies ensure the continuity of our social enterprise through funding as well as using their own media channels to help us spread our message. With the support of Starbucks alone, for example, we reached 11.800.000 people.