Dressing up as a mermaid with a 13ft tail made out of plastic waste might not sound like the most obvious way to launch a global brand but for Helen Hill and her business partner Sally, it was an ideal launch pad.
The mermaid outfits took over 300 hours to create using reclaimed waste such as plastic bottles, balloons, lids, coffee pods, medicine blister packs, foam mats and broken toys. The idea was to highlight the amount of plastic waste in the sea for World Ocean Day 2023.
“We dressed up as mermaids for PR for one day, and then all this attention obviously kept coming. I ended up on BBC News. Sally was on Network 10 from Bondi Beach and then it was in The Times in the pictures of the week. And then it just started popping up everywhere!”
That was only last June but now the duo has moved on to combining mermaid-themed experiences with wider environmental education through play, as well as facing up to the challenges of setting up an Australian registered business. They now offer children what they call ‘Eco Play Experiences’. This includes group activities for two- to five-year-olds where all items are made from the natural world, reloved, upcycled, recycled or sustainably manufactured. For older children (five to 12 years) there are curriculum-aligned activities around climate solutions. The start of 2024 means a busy time planning for a UK launch.
Spreading climate positivity
The duo’s story is one which started almost by chance, thanks to the use of a hashtag on social media which proved to have the power to connect Helen in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, and Sally in Sydney.
“Our business started with a hashtag, evolved with an email, and now runs almost entirely on an intricate understanding of UK-Australia time differences. Before we met, we were both living in the UK and working for #tacklethecrisis, a campaign about spreading climate positivity, because we’re both pretty sure that’s what the world needs. We wanted something to counter the doom-and-gloom stories that make us want to stick our fingers in our ears and assume the foetal position because it’s all too much.”
Since then, the pair have gone on to build experiences for both children and adults. In addition to the children’s activities detailed above, the pair also offer advice on everything from garden rewilding to reducing digital footprints via a series of blogposts and podcasts.
“We hope that children feel that they do have a future and that it’s hopeful and positive and that we can do something about it. Obviously, they’re seeing the narrative that the government, etc. are not doing things and going back on everything but I think it’s really important to show them that, as adults, we do care, that we are taking action and doing something to safeguard their future.
“Also, I think it’s for the adults as well as the children. You can bring play into sustainable action, you can create turn action into family activities and things that are just another day out, it’s an experience and that whole curiosity and connection to nature which is so important.”
So what’s next for the mermaids?
It looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of the mermaids in 2024.
“I thought we’d just be mermaids for a week and it’d be gone – how wrong can you be? Our books are now with a publisher waiting to see if they’ll take them on. There’s lots ready, bubbling!”
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There’s a chance to hear from Helen directly at the Better Business Summit from 17 to 19 January in Manchester.
A version of this article was first published at www.thenortherneco.com.
