Catastrawphe

The only thing that lives longer than a straw is a vampire

Catastrawphe is a campaign targeting the use of single use straws in a restaurant setting. Catastrawphe utilizes the undead caricature of a vampire to bring awareness to the permanence of single use plastic, specifically plastic straws, to the consumer. By partnering with a local litter clean up volunteer organization, Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers, we were able to create visualizations using littered straws from a well-known and loved location - Tybee Island. Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers now owns the printed materials, straw filled coffin, and posters that make up the campaign. 

Team

Chris Beardsley, Jenna Bower, Kaley Blask, Luisa Solano Ghisays, Manasi Nandakumar, & Scott Crotzer

marvin the vampire

The team chose to use a vampire as a mascot for the campaign. The printed material shows Marvin in different situations that correlate with the most common excuses people gave for using a straw during primary research. Rather than being depicted in the classic cloak, we chose to show Marvin in beach clothes, indicating that he lives on Tybee Island.

On the reverse side of each flyer was information about Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers and how to get involved.

Marvin’s Coffin

In order to provide a visual aid, we used the vampire’s coffin as a unit of measurement. Because straws never disappear, the idea is that every straw a person has ever used is still somewhere on earth. The coffin is filled with littered straws picked up from the beaches of Tybee Island by volunteers for Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers. Inside the lid of the coffin is a poster that shows the amount of straws the average American person leaves to the next generation by the time they are 80 years old.

The coffin draws passers by in, then points them to the table, where they can learn more about their straw use.

The actionable step

The focal point of the campaign is a table where participants can calculate the approximate number of straws they have used in their lifetime. Once they are made aware of the number of straws they are responsible for, write that number on a card to keep with them. The commitment card is wallet-sized and double sided, with the commitment on one side and a table tent that says “No Straw Please” on the other. Participants can keep this card in their wallets and use the table tent at restaurants as a way to kindly tell their servers that they will not be needing a straw for their beverage. Our research showed that servers will often drop straws on a table before a customer can say they don’t want one. Once a straw is on the table, the restaurant considers it trash, weather or not the customer uses it. Placing this card on the table when seated prevents the straw from being dropped and can start a conversation with the staff or neighboring tables about single use plastics.