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In the run up to National Refill Day on June 19, 23red and award-winning environmental campaigning organisation City to Sea are using the creative power of Ocean’s connected outdoor screens to encourage people to use refill stations and reusable water bottles, rather than buying water in single-use plastic bottles.

In a UK media first, three full motion screens in Manchester, Birmingham and London are turned into “Hydration Stations” where people can refill their water bottles, an action to highlight the need to protect our seas from plastic pollution and how we all play a part in that.

Created by 23red, Hydration Station was one of the winners in Ocean’s annual digital creative competition which fosters bold new concepts in digital out-of-home.

It launches in Manchester on The Printworks from June 1, on The Media Eyes in Birmingham on June 5, which is designated World Environmental Day, and in Canary Wharf, London on June 19 to mark National Refill Day.

Plastic pollution of our seas and waterways is an urgent problem. By turning Ocean screens into Hydration Stations we directly link the refill of water bottles to the removal of a plastic bottle from the seas. The gamified mechanic of releasing a trapped fish adds to the engagement of interacting with the large screen.

Prior to each interaction, the screens will feature a looped “waiting mode” animated film of a captive fish trapped inside a plastic bottle floating in a polluted ocean. The screens carry a request to passers-by to use the water fountain positioned in front of the screen as a bottle refill point.

When it is used, the fountain triggers the release of the fish by making the bottle trapping it disappear. Once free, the fish thanks the user and swims away.

To make that possible, the fountains are attended by staff with tablets which are connected to the screens via Ocean’s fast wi-fi network. The attendants use a purpose-built app to trigger the on-screen animation, which resets after each refill is complete. In addition, the screen counts how many plastic bottles have been stopped from reaching our waterways.

This is a fun and engaging interactive campaign which turns selected screens into something hugely practical to communicate an important environmental message.