The Plastic Pipeline

Organization:

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Dev Category:

Government

Release Year:

2024

Ocean plastic pollution is a global crisis; but what can we do? The Plastic Pipeline takes players through points on the ‘lifecycle’ of a single-use plastic product to empower them to learn about policies being used to fight it. Help stem the tide of pollution and save our oceans.

Game Overview

The Plastic Pipeline had several learning goals that informed the game design and process. The first learning goal was to help players understand the issue of plastic pollution and solutions being enacted worldwide. Beyond knowledge gains, we wanted to help players feel empowered and motivated about plastic pollution and environmental policy after playing the game. Our research suggests that these goals are being met, and we’re excited to take it further. Beyond that, we wanted to make research come to life in an engaging way, especially around a topic where there seems to be no solution in sight. We used the ‘lifecycle’ of single-use plastics, from creation to consumer to waste, to help organize this research and unblack box the various touch points where policy can be used to decrease plastic pollution. The goal is to walk away feeling there is a solution to a very daunting problem.

The Plastic Pipeline brings awareness to single-use plastic pollution that is killing our oceans. Over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste are in the ocean, making this a global emergency. Environmental policy education has often focused on teaching consumer-level behavior, like recycling or clean up. But a lot happens at the policy level in industry and government that can reduce plastic pollution. With the support of a National Geographic Society grant, the Wilson Center created a game that would help young adults in the US and Southeast Asia to both learn about plastic pollution and also what can be done at the policy-level to stem the tide of plastic pollution. In a gentle homage to games such as Animal Crossing and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, The Plastic Pipeline challenges players to interview and find clues to develop out the pro’s and con’s to various policies. Players start with the area they may be most familiar with as a consumer, with topics such as plastic bag bans and more, and build out from there. Each policy was selected with the expertise and extensive research from the China Environment Forum, but instead of reading a 25 page policy brief they receive a simplified explanation–with the hope that some players, after playing the game, will want to go and learn more.

College age up

Players are afforded assessment of their learning through several key mechanics. First, they are awarded “policy points” upon finding things like clues or successfully navigating the mini-game on Nurdles. These points are then used to pass policy, limiting the number of options within the game. Some policies require combinations, and change the shape of what policy options you have in other areas. There is also feedback once the player has passed policies, in the form of a narrative follow-up where Wilson the Walrus explains the impact of particular policy choices and combinations. This means the experience may vary depending on what policies (or policy combinations) you choose. Finally, another mechanic used for feedback is in the review of policies; depending on how successful the player was in finding clues by talking to characters and searching around, more information is uncovered about solutions to plastic pollution in each zone. This helps inform the number of policies available, as well as information about the specific policies (pro/cons).

The policy research and testing has been based on the support of key collaborations. The China Environment Forum (CEF) conducted policy research that brought together research from US, Europe, and Asia. This research tapped into existing research and leading experts from Pew Charitable Trust, ClientEarth and Ocean Conservancy to understand the landscape of policies. But CEF also engaged and amplified the voices of NGOs and activists on-the-ground in some of the most vulnerable regions, like Southeast Asia. We worked closely with the Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance, Vietnam Zero Waste Education Network, Break Free From Plastic networks in Asia, and many others to do on-the-ground outreach. The game thus served as a nexus point for bringing together–and making accessible–this very complicated policy space.

The Plastic Pipeline

Game Overview

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