With climate change buckling up for the endgame one should be concerned about, and trailers coming in thick and fast in the form of erratic weather patterns, rising sea levels and salinity, environmentalists have their work cut out for them in convincing the rest of the world to assemble and tackle this massive problem. The particular challenge of journalists presenting all the arguments is turning the facts and jargon into a concrete experience that makes the readers sit up, take notice, and actually effect a change.
The National Geographic’s interactive editorial “What happens to the plastic we throw away” might just be an effective way to get the job done. The publication’s website has used a combination of infographics, satellite imagery, drone videos, maps and models to create an immersive experience that takes the reader across the world, and into the seas, highlighting the scale and scope of plastic pollution, arguably one of the biggest environmental crises we are facing today.
The kinetic presentation, which invites the reader to scroll up and down and drag the cursor around the maps as bite-size chunks of data appear on the screen, feels less like a magazine editorial than a video game, and is part of ‘Planet or Plastic?’ National Geographic’s multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis.
The editorial recently won the People’s Choice award at the 2019 Webby Awards (“The Oscars of the Internet”) in the ‘Best Individual Editorial Feature’ Category.
Check out the full piece at www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/the-journey-of-plastic-around-the-globe/
