National Geographic to launch Make Good, an anti-plastic pollution platform

“The world is changing faster than many of us can keep up with, but there has never been a better time to be a curious person,” says National Geographic.

The veteran magazine’s inquisitive audience are being rewarded with the launch of a new platform that seeks to take on one of the bigger issues of our age. No, not whether or not Sonic should look like that, but plastic, and more specifically how we can work together as a planet to put a stop to plastic-related ocean pollution.

One solution is Make Good, “a unique platform on a mission to accelerate design, technology, and innovation for a better world.” The platform is the result of a partnership between National Geographic and innovation consultancy R/GA, whose previous clients include Mailchimp, Uber, and Nike.

The platform will initially launch in Australia, with a Make Good innovation lab playing part of the 2019 Semi Permanent festival lineup. Innovators are asked to work within the confines of three areas of consideration when it comes to submitting proposals for projects that “defy plastic and reverse the harm it is inflicting on our oceans.”

You can submit work which looks to reduce global consumption of single-use plastics, ideas that’ll revive coastlines through the physical removal of plastic that’s already found its way into the ocean, and potential projects that look to redesign plastic entirely. “It’s for innovators, researchers, scientists, storytellers, and students alike,” it explains. Australian innovators, researchers, scientists, storytellers and students, that is.

If you happen to reside in the northern hemisphere, why not tuck into this interview with the magazine’s creative director Emmet Smith about the new look Nat Geo got back in 2018.