Brief Explanation

Greenpeace wanted to work with a prominent shopping center in Beijing to create an event that would get media attention and build awareness about how disposable chopstick usage contributes to forest destruction.

The Brief

Last year 3.8 million trees in China, one every 10 seconds of every day, were cut down to supply the nation’s demand for an astounding 57 billion disposable chopsticks. Greenpeace wanted to create awareness about this forest destruction and encourage citizens to stop using disposable chopsticks.

How the final design was conceived

To reach far more people than would be possible through an conventional ad campaign, a “disposable forest” of 4, 16-foot tall trees was created out of 84,000 used chopsticks, and put in place over a 3-day weekend at one of Beijing’s most popular shopping centers. While Greenpeace handed out permanent-use chopsticks, people were encouraged to make a pledge not to use disposable chopsticks both at the event and online.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Over 100,000 made their pledge not to use disposable chopsticks in just the first three weeks after the event. Over 40 media reported the event. Over 2000 restaurants also took the step to stop supplying them as well. The support was so encouraging that Greenpeace China is now working with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), to create a pan-Asian pledge later this year.