Hidden Plastic was founded in 2020 by two siblings, Zara (16) & Ashton (14). Their goal is to use homespun videos to educate about the dangers of plastics that go unseen - including microplastics - in the food we eat, air we breathe, our blood and especially in our oceans.
They like to highlight solutions too!
PLASTIC SUBSIDIES
At the last Global Plastics Treaty negotiations (INC-5), we learned about a shocking fact...plastic is being subsidised by at least $45 BILLION per year. This is making it artificailly cheap, and harder for alternative solutions to scale.
We made TWO videos about this problem (see right), have created a petition to make sure they're included in the Plastic Treaty text and are running an incredible webinar explaining everything on July 9th at 1pmUTC.
Sign up to the (free) webinar below, and watch our videos for a taster of what's to come....
'Plastic Elephant In the Room'
QUNO-funded research paper brought to INC-5 with data to show that global plastic subsidies hit £45 BILLION in 2024. Inspiration to our latest video 'Plastic Elephant in the Room'! Downlonad & read full report.
'Why Plastic is Too Cheap'
GLOBAL PLASTICS TREATY
We have attended THREE of the past five Global Plastic Treaty negotiations...as two of the youngest delegates (due to a 'no under 18s allowed' restriction). Thanks to the generous support from The Captain Planet Foundation, we're attending the FINAL (final) negotiations as they continue to INC-5.2 in Geneva this August!
Zara & Ashton helped the Children &Youth Major Group (CYMG) to draft an intervention (speech) to the INC-2 plenary Contact Group 1 at INC-2 in Paris. Ashton delivered this memorable speech after all UN member countries were finished...and woke up the sleepy room with thunderous applause!
Watch it here ---->
In Paris at INC-2!
Excellent SkyNews interview about importance of the Global Plastics Treaty with Sian Sutherland, Founder
A Plastic Planet 29-11-24
'If Bottled Water Commercials Were Honest'
Made for INC-5 and our latest campaign 'The Droplet' - why use disposable plastic bottles when you can use water filters with reverse osmosis?
Note: Ashton did not learn to speak amazing French...this is AI!
We made it to INC-4!!
(Ottawa, Canada)
Thanks to Captain Planet Foundation, our application was APPROVED, despite the fact that we're both under 18 yrs old!
We were able to represent 'little things' that do a lot, like phyto & zooplankton, on the same global stage with scientists & world leaders, that can actually DO something to help.
'little things' - short animation highlighting what plankton and youth have in common! Made for the Global Plastics Treaty INC-4...
CLIMATE CHANGE
'Is Plastic Linked to Climate Change?' We found out it IS, absolutely!
Our favourite dinosaur fossil (Bertha - from 'Dinosaurs v Plastic') returns to talk about the scary problems of plastic waste with our newest character, ‘Ollie Burns’ the oil company executive. Bertha explains why making more plastic from oil actually worsens the climate crisis. And she’s pretty up-to-date on her plastic facts for a dinosaur!
Full version (4mins):
oil exec Ollie Burns meets our favourite dinosaur fossil Bertha!
Short: Just the Facts about Plastic Waste
On March 16th, 2024 we gave a talk at the CPF Annual Gala in Atlanta, GA about how the Captain Planet Foundation has helped to support Hidden Plastic in various ways the past few years. In fact, Hidden Plastic may never have existed without 'Ocean Heroes Virtual Bootcamp' in 2020, which gave us the support we needed to launch our campaign. We loved the supportive audience & even received a standing ovation!
We were so excited to have launched our NEW Hidden Plastic Film Studio on September 15th 2023... watch the ribbon-cutting event with our favourite positive news influencer Sam Bentley! Huge THANK YOU to the
Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Fellowship Program for their generous $2,500 grant to make it possible!
...OVERHEATED
We had a live interview with Maggie Baird at Overheated London 2023!
We had such a great time at the event and loved meeting so many wonderful people, who care a lot about the planet. Thank you Maggie, Billie and the Overheated Team for such an amazing opportunity!
pepsico interceptor challenge
Early in 2022, we CHALLENGED PEPSICO to help cleanup the waste from their products they sell in disposible plastic packaging around the world. There is a term for this concept, known as
'corporate responsibility', which to us only seems fair. Why should the planet pay for their profit?
Vox 'Now This' channel made a 3-minute feature about our campaign in Summer 2022
(it reached over 150,00 views!)
Watch 'Recap'... our FINAL video to PepsiCo highlighting the core messages of all our 15+ videos over the past one year of campaigning! View more HERE
Note: we're still waiting for an official response!
Classic Videos
Microplastic pollution is in our food, water and bodies
We are guessing that you know all about the mountains of plastic piling up on land and floating in the seas. However, did you know we also have a serious problem with small pieces of plastic that break up and are EVERYWHERE? They get eaten by animals, float in our air and are being found in our food supply. Humans, animals, plants and the air all have tiny fragments of plastic...and no one knows how harmful this is to our bodies or our Planet. Watch our 'edu-taining' videos to explore this question of 'How we deal with Hidden Plastic?'.
The Problem with
Washing Machines
Learn about how washing machine filters work to stop microfibres from escaping form our clothes. You can use our link below to get 10% off the PlanetCare filter we've been trying out.
"Did you know?"
3 fascinating facts about plastic
Our favourite online resource to learn all about plastics! (and it's free)
dinosaurs vs. plastic
Help end UK fossil fuels subsidies totalling £16bn since the Paris Agreement!
Plastic Breakdown
(our first video)
#plasticbreakdown #oceanheroes
We started 5 years ago with Ocean Heroes bootcamp, which has now become the Planeteer Alliance. They can help with expert guidance, networking & tools to start your own campaign for change through monthly bootcamps.
'Did You Know?' Dangers of micro & nanoplastics:
FOODCHAIN
from farm to fork
If you thought that taking a bite of salad was harmless, think again. There are hidden micrograms of plastic in fruits and vegetables, according to a recent study.
Micro-plastics even leech out of plastic packaging and containers into your food. No wonder we consume at least 5 grams of plastic every week…equivalent to one whole credit card!
Watch the video below to learn more (with the sea bird that really is a chicken in disguise):
ANIMALS
Eaten by sea, air & land creatures
Most people have seen the dead animals that have consumed microplastics after mistaking it for food. The extent of the global problem is still not completely understood.
And it’s not just a problem with the unlucky few that die, but most animals still have plastic in their diet…including us!
There are a few good sites that look into this problem in greater depth, which you can find here.
WATER
In salt & fresh water
Water…a clear liquid that all life on Earth depends on. Yet, many sources of water now contains many particles of micro- plastics.
Some come from municipal water sheds that drain off from roads, taking particles of plastic from tires and other debris with them. We also put particles of plastic into our water supplies each time we use our washing machines and certain cleaning products.
AIR
Even in the air we breathe
Take a breath. Then imagine that breath you took contains many microfibres that come off clothing and plastic products that break down. Even if you can’t see them, research has shown that they are there and cause negative effects to humans by getting into our lungs.
We can’t stop it any more than a filter feeder can, like the manta ray when it breathes in microplastics underwater.
"Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act"
-Albert Einstein
Tips for Plastic-free Living
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Wash & reuse anything you can / stop thinking ‘disposable’
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Carry your own refillable water bottle / filter water at home
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Buy products without plastic if possible (support local fruit & veg vendors)
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Carry your own reusable shopping bags
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Buy locally and ask for unwrapped or waxed paper / beeswax wrap is great for sandwiches
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Collect soft plastic bags to recycle at grocery stores (Tesco, Sainsbury, etc).
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If soft plastic recycling is not available in your country, then throw ALL plastic bags away. Otherwise, as they recycle could end up in the ocean being mistaken for food like a jellyfish.
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If buying plastic packaging is the only option, go LARGE (bulk buy to last longer)
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Refill jars & containers from bulk sellers of food & cleaning products
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Take cutlery & reusable straws with you everywhere
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Buy products in glass bottle if possible (ie. milk, ketchup)
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Try shampoo & soap bars to reduce plastic in the bathroom