ZMT - Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung

Plastic pollution affects many areas of human life. It has a negative effect on health, affects climate and has serious economic consequences. Plastic waste in the environment and especially in the oceans is an increasingly demanding, global problem with serious ecological consequences.

The initiative Making Oceans Plastic Free, founded in 2016, is dedicated to reducing plastic waste influx to the oceans with a holistic approach: alternatives to disposable plastic are developed and implemented. Incentives for behavioral change and raising awareness are created through design, research and communication.

An example of this innovative approach is the concept of the Tasini bag. It reflects findings from environmental psychology, behavioral economics as well as empirical results from our own research on incentives for behavioral changes, in the context of social, cultural, political and economic conditions. With the Marine Plastic Innovation Award from UN Environment, the innovational communication approach based on the Tasini concept has been appreciated.

One of the main foci lies in Indonesia, the second largest source of marine plastic pollution. There is tremendous potential for reducing plastic waste and creating environmental awareness, which reduces the amount of plastic influx into the oceans.

Tasini is a social innovation:

Combining communication, environmental campaigning and product solutions, the Tasini bag is a first outcome in a series of planned products developed according to the Tasini concept (e.g., straws, water bottles, food containers). Tasini is a foldable, reusable bag on a keychain made from recycled plastic bottles hidden inside a plush marine animal drawing attention to the problems of plastic pollution in the oceans and presenting a solution for single use plastic bags.

These marine animals are especially developed characters who communicate environmental awareness in an entertaining way through environmental campaigns. For example, using animated videos, smartphone apps and other media carriers as tools to motivate behavioral change in an easy and playful way.