Unifying Communities
‘Half the worlds population watched coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games!’ - IOC Marketing report Rio 2016
By harnessing and unifying communities by the power and reach of sport, through the athletes, events, fans, volunteers and brands, the lasting impact is almost unimaginable.
We are a movement within sport that will grow into something un-stoppable when it comes to achieving our goals. As athletes and fans united, we are a group that are determined, passionate and driven by our nature, and will persist until we achieve.
The video here shows us the power of creating and being involved in a movement!
About us
The Big Plastic pledge has been founded by Hannah Mills, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, a sailor and an IOC sustainability ambassador.
“Sailing has taken me all over the world and for almost 2 decades I have noticed plastic in the oceans, mainly when it gets stuck under our boat and stops us dead in our tracks. But it didn’t resonate with me how bad the problem was getting until the Rio 2016 Olympic cycle.
I witnessed first hand the devastating effects of plastic pollution on our oceans and planet. Every beach, marina and coastal area we visited during that 4 year period was affected and damaged beyond belief.
So much of it was single use plastic. It was something I couldn’t ignore anymore, I had to act. And so, over the past few years I have set about, along with my team mate Eilidh Mcintyre, trying to reduce the single use plastic from our Olympic campaign.”
With 1 person changing their habits, individually signalling to brands and policy makers our voice, the ripple effect can be huge. The actions you take matter and without you and the next person and the next, we are nothing. If a whole sporting community change their habits and shouts loudly, then we are flying! We can create a tidal wave of change that will be felt on every corner of the globe. This is the foundation for the Big Plastic Pledge.
Making Change
Why Sport?
Through sport, we can change lives. There is no life more important and more at threat right now than the life of our planet.
The power of sport is phenomenal. We have all seen examples of how sport has changed peoples lives regarding health and mental wellbeing as well as uniting religion, politics and cultural differences across the globe.
Sport has been used as a mechanism to cross boundaries and make change for as long as we can remember.
At the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, athletes from North and South Korea marched together. The two nations even entered a combined women’s hockey team, in what the New York Times called “the most dramatic gesture of reconciliation between them in a decade”.
International Olympic Committee
Clean Seas
PixlBear
WhiteSpace - Brighton
British Olympic Association
Steele Raymond Solicitors
Francis Clark
Gail Willows
Jonathan Calascione
Hollie Newton
Nick Mills
