During summer 2019, #OneLess joined up with London’s leading tourist attractions and events to showcase alternatives to drinking plastic bottled water, and to strengthen London’s identity as a city that is reducing single-use plastic. Launched on World Oceans Day (8 June), ‘Hello London, Goodbye Ocean Plastic’, promoted and embedded London’s refillable drinking water culture.
Our message was simple: drink water the London way and say #GoodbyeOceanPlastic by not using plastic bottled water. We asked our audience to use alternatives like tap water, refillable water bottles, public water fountains, and free fill-up points in cafes and shops.
Here are some of the Hello London campaign highlights
- #OneLess teamed up with over 20 of London’s leading visitor attractions, tourism providers, higher education institutions, popular areas and landmark events to profile all of London’s great alternatives to plastic water bottles. Our partners included the Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London School of Economics, ZSL, London Bridge City, Mint Street Music Festival, London National Park City Festival, Lonely Whale, King’s College London, Green Tourism, Shaftesbury, Seven Dials and Carnaby Street.
- We reached an estimated 5 million people, with a total 9 million impressions from signage and 26 million impressions on social media.
- We ran a two-month advertising campaign with JCDecaux, which was live in three successive waves at bus stops and train stations across 11 central London boroughs. Survey results reveal Londoners who saw the advertising campaign were 30% more likely to use public drinking fountains and 34% more likely to stop using single-use plastic water bottles. Additionally, 34% of people surveyed made the connection between this issue and nature.
- We engaged with hundreds of Londoners face-to-face at seven events throughout the summer, including bottle giveaways, workshops, and beach cleans. This includes Ride London, Mint Street Music Festival, and London Bridge City’s ‘Summer by the River’ Festival.
- We installed a drinking fountain on the riverside of London’s most visited tourist attraction, the Tate Modern. During the summer, the fountain dispensed the equivalent of over 50,000 (500ml) bottle refills, which is nearly 400 bottle refills a day.
Thanks to all our partners who generously supported our campaign. London has set the stage for a global movement – join them and drink water the London way!
… and JCDecaux, The Northbank, Meetings Industry Association, TimeOut London, Selfridges, and Virgin Unite.
And thanks to our generous campaign sponsors.
