Is uptown funk the solution to underwater junk?
Conservation campaigns often try to spread awareness using horrifying images. Whilst these are most certainly memorable and often effective, how many more birds with plastic filled stomachs will it take for us to become disengaged and numb? Environmental issues can be tackled in a positive engaging way, says Vivienne, Putney High School Alumna (Class of 2009).
She is currently reading her master’s degree in Marine Environmental Management at the University of York (MSc) and is on course to receive a distinction. This year, she developed the #ditchthosebeads campaign to raise public awareness about plastic pollution. She has also been offered the chance to work for the Blue Marine Foundation in the Maldives.
Vivienne describes how she got into marine conservation and discuss the innovative campaign she developed:
“After my A levels, I took three successive gap years, travelling and working in Australia and Tanzania. Working on a conservation project in Tanzania reminded me of my absolute adoration for wildlife and nature which was instilled in me from a young age, spending many years in South Africa with my family. I decided that I wanted to ensure that wildlife is conserved for generations to come and applied to study zoology (Bsc) at Royal University of London.
 In my final year of my undergraduate degree, I carried out a research project in Indonesia, where I spent eight weeks diving and studying nudibranchs on coral reefs. After this experience, I decided to specialise in marine conservation and began my masters at the University of York, where I am based now.
 Since December 2015, I have been developing the #ditchthosebeads campaign to raise public awareness about plastic pollution and the environmental issues around microbeads. Microbeads are small plastic beads which are added to cosmetic products such as scrubs and toothpastes and marketed for their exfoliating properties. Due to their small size they are not filtered out by water treatment and end up in our oceans. As foreign materials in this environment, animals are unable to recognise them and avoid them and so unintentionally consume these beads. They are not digested properly and build up in digestive systems resulting in fatal consequences for not only for the animals but also for those who prey on them. Considering we eat seafood, microbeads also pose threat to us. Microbeads are totally unnecessary additives and there are many natural alternatives available.
As a young conservationist I am always so surprised at how little the general public often knows about marine environmental issues and equally how difficult it is to get people to become engaged in marine conservation. I’ve also noticed that many conservationists or activists often publish disturbing images to shock the public into caring about various issues, however I believe these will not forever be effective as media develops and we continually become increasingly exposed and accustomed to such images. I believe it is therefore crucial that we experiment and explore new ways of trying to engage the public in important issues.
I am interested in the potential public response if we integrate a marine conservation issue like microbeads with something with a more positive tone which will make people smile and laugh. I have produced a parody video of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars as a mean of engaging people with the issue of microbeads in a light-hearted manner. The aim of the video is to simply spread public awareness and get people to sign the petition to get these beads banned from products in the UK.Â
Working in conservation is a challenging field for economic, political, environmental and social reasons. Conservation efforts are incredibly limited by funding and may encounter governmental resistance, as it is the case for microbeads. It can also be very challenging to work with people on improving environmental practices, however travelling and working for such a vital cause are the perks of the job – not many people get to say that they dive on coral reef for a living! “
