last year, national geographic launched its ‘planet or plastic?’ project in an effort to raise awareness of the mounting issue of plastic pollution and it’s impact on our marine environments. this year, they have invited 12 young artists, or ‘artivists’, from 12 of the most plastic polluted countries in the world, to create artworks to promote the initiative. together, the 12 posters form a 2019 calendar, aiming to spread the message and help reduce the amount of plastic waste. 

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘january – children or plastic?’ by sheng chen (china)

 

 

the initiative has been launched by national geographic in response to the startling statistic that we currently throw away 9 million tons of plastic every year, with 5 trillion pieces of plastic already in our oceans. in an effort to combat this, each of the 12 artworks are inspired by the environmental and health issues of plastic waste currently being faced in the artists’ respective home countries. by sharing their point of view with a wider audience, the calendar aims to spread the ‘planet or plastic?’ message worldwide.

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘february – the future or plastic?’ by kathrin honesta (indonesia)

 

 

for more information on the project and to download the 2019 calendar or individual posters, you can visit the national geographic website. here you can also watch the short videos explaining each artwork in greater detail and showing the production’ step-by-step and testimonials of the authors.

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘march – healthy diet or plastic?’ by kristy anne ligones aka KDLIG (philippines)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘april – wildlife or plastic?’ by thao mien phan (vietnam)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘may – blue ocean or plastic?’ by ruwangi amarasinghe (sri lanka)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘june – gentle giant or plastic?’ by bom cherdsak aka 2CHOEY (thailand)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘july – man’s best friend or plastic?’ by ahmed karam (egypt)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘august – pearl or plastic?’ by kelseyz aka troublexy (malaysia)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘september – environment or plastic?’ by thomas of the cosmos (nigeria)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘october – sea creatures or plastic?’ by helena layzu (bangladesh)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘november – birds or plastic?’ by wilmari botha (south africa)

national geographic uses art to promote its 'planet or plastic?' initiative designboom

‘december – marine life or plastic?’ by pavan rajurkar (india)

 

 

project info:

 

project name: ‘planet or plastic?’

initiative: national geographic

artists: sheng chen, kathrin honesta, kristy anne ligones aka KDLIG, thao mien phan, ruwangi amarasinghe, bom cherdsak aka 2CHOEY, ahmed karam, kelseyz aka troublexy, thomas of the cosmos, helena layzu, wilmari botha, pavan rajurkar

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lynne myers | designboom