Every year, one million marine animals die from plastic indigestion. Sea Shepherd, a non-profit marine conservation organization, has created a brand specific for children: Pollutoys, an innovative new vision of engagement and a tool to educate kids to respect our oceans and care about our planet.
Created by FRED & FARID Shanghai, Pollutoys are much more than simple plush toys. It’s a solution. It composes of eight adorable plushies, teaching kids about the plastic pollution issue: Mark the shark, Pelle the pelican, Martha the ray manta, Willy the whale, and Penny the Penguin. However, behind their cute faces lies a sad reality. Their stomach is full of trash: a plastic bag, plastic bottle, plastic soda cup, straw, plastic cutlery, balloon, cap, and all the other plastic trash that sea animals tend to eat.
“The simple fact of opening an animal belly and discover all the trash; children were surprised at first but they kept talking about it for weeks,” says Emilie Perier, an early childhood teacher from Orange Panda in Shanghai who used Pollutoys in her two-to-five-year-old children class.
