LUU launch Leo DiCaprio-inspired sustainability campaign

Leeds University Union have launched a campaign to raise awareness of sustainability issues in Leeds. The campaign’s main focus is to give a ‘fun’ way to raise the subject of sustainable choices, which will hopefully maximise student engagement and the potential reach of the message.

The campaign revolves around a play on “WWJD” / “What Would Jesus Do?” but instead, they are using Leonardo DiCaprio as a mascot.  Apart from being an Oscar-winning actor, Di Caprio is also a UN ambassador for climate change and made the documentary Before the Flood, about climate change. With the tag line of “What Would Leo Do?” LUU will be trying to get students to think about ways they could be more sustainable in their life. What sustainable choices would Leo make?

The main messages will be around making people aware that glass cannot go in the green bins, and to encourage recycling. Other messages relate to issues like avoiding food waste, buying locally, turning off lights and reduce consumption of bottled water.

The hope is that the link to Leonardo di Caprio would grab attention and increase student engagement in the issue. There would be a heavy emphasis on a social media campaign, using the hashtags, “#WWLD” & #GetLeoToLeeds” with the aim of getting his attention, and to get him to Leeds (a long shot but still worth trying). This aspect would, hopefully, get people interested in really trying to retweet/ and share the message etc.

The main event is a stall, outside essentials across the lunch time period (11-2pm) every day in the week beginning 13th March. There is also a life size cut-out of Leo. People can have a photo opportunity with the cut out, with the caveat that they share it with the hashtags #WWLD and #GetLeoToLeeds. To spread the sustainability message, people can pose with a whiteboard with their ideas to be sustainable (i.e “Leo would recycle” ). Additionally, we will be running a competition to win the life size cut out!!! Other prizes are fruity tickets and a re-usable water bottle.

A Union representative told The Tab “The event will only be successful if it grabs people’s attention and people start using the hashtags and sharing the photos. It would be great if this could be something that people are talking about over that week, and even better if that ends up meaning that some people start to think about sustainability!”