Marine litter sculptures reel in the public

How do you get people talking about marine litter and changing their behaviours to protect our waterways?

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is using creative and impactful events to raise awareness about the devastating effects of marine litter, combining oversized eye-catching litter sculptures with key facts.

The aim is to educate the public to reduce litter, and in 2025 the EPA’s Marine Litter campaign has reached a combined total of 578,000 people online and in person.

That includes a total of 3,733 hours of meaningful direct engagement across more than 29,857 individuals at key events:

• Taronga Zoo collaboration - the EPA worked with the zoo over the January long weekend to display sculptures including a giant pelican and a large fish wrapped in plastic. EPA officers engaged with the public to drive home key messaging through signage and conversation. Taronga Youth At The Zoo also took part in the event to highlight the critical role of Taronga Hospital in treating animals injured by ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic litter.
• Ocean Lovers Festival - the sculptures were displayed on the weekend of 14-16 March when the Ocean Lovers Festival took over Darling Harbour. The EPA team again took the opportunity to speak to as many attendees as possible.
• Royal Easter Show - capitalising on foot traffic at the easter show, at a time when people are willing to engage with stallholders, this event enabled meaningful conversations with the public about marine litter over 11 consecutive days during the Easter holiday period.

The EPA’s eye-catching litter sculptures proved to be powerful visual tools for sparking deeper conversations and creating awareness about the marine litter problem affecting the NSW coast, and beyond. The campaign aims to shift the community’s behaviour to be responsible for their rubbish, and to keep the idea that littering is socially unacceptable, top of mind.

The litter sculpture installations at real world events were complemented by an online strategy which has successfully generated engagement with 548,000 people online, including through social media messages such as this Taronga Zoo Facebook post.

Both the community engagement events, and the online strategy were part of the EPA’s Marine Litter campaign funded through the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy.

The events are a key component of EPA’s Don’t Be A Tosser campaign, which will launch again later this year.