Party Like the World Depends on It

The World Cup is coming to Seattle! It is our opportunity to be great hosts.

Together with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), we created materials that encourage people to make choices that reduce waste when hosting World Cup watch parties. Our goal was to introduce waste-reduction tips in a way that focuses on fun and celebration. We wanted to reach people who might not be receptive to a traditional waste-reduction message by connecting with soccer fans through the spirit of national pride and international competition. As we developed the campaign, we kept coming back to a simple question: How do we talk about waste without creating more waste?

Our solution was simple:
make the message into memorabilia.

Many outreach materials are designed to be read once and discarded. For a campaign about waste reduction, that felt like a missed opportunity. Instead, we looked to the culture of the World Cup itself. Fans collect jerseys, patches, posters, stickers, programs, and keepsakes that help them remember where they were and what they experienced.

Rather than producing items people would immediately throw away, we designed pieces that could be displayed, reused, collected, and shared. If they remained in people’s homes long after the tournament, the waste-reduction message would remain as well.

Here’s what we made:

PARTY LIKE THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT. A community outreach campaign slogan to connect the messaging and visuals across materials and touchpoints.

Seattle Match Day Poster Series

One of the great things about the World Cup is seeing fans express their love and support for their countries. This often takes the form of waving flags and wearing national colors. The poster series combines the flags of competing nations with natural and urban symbols of Seattle. A celebration of soccer, the World Cup, and Seattle.

It is an honor to be a host city, and we are proud of what Seattle has to offer. Each poster includes a sidebar highlighting a different aspect of waste prevention and reduction. We created posters for Belgium vs. Egypt, United States vs. Australia, Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Qatar, and Egypt vs. Iran, including an alternate version celebrating the Pride Match. We hope people will enjoy and keep these posters as mementos of this moment in our city and that they will serve as lasting reminders of why waste-reduction actions matter.

Alternate Poster design to celebrate the Seattle World Cup Pride Match.

Let’s Get the Kids Excited about Waste Reduction

Sometimes all you need is a reminder to make small choices that reduce waste. We created stickers and temporary tattoos commemorating each Seattle-hosted group-stage match, the soccer-ball Earth graphics, and the Love Food Stop Waste logo. Kids especially love temporary tattoos, and getting them engaged with waste reduction can have a lasting impact. We also created a patch designed to serve as a long-lasting conversation starter.

Be a Waste-Free Referee with Red, Yellow, and Green Cards

Someone has to call the fouls to keep the game clean. This deck of referee cards highlights specific behaviors that can help keep your watch party waste-free. Red cards call out the most egregious watch-party fouls, yellow cards identify things to watch out for, and green cards encourage review and reflection. Our limited testing shows these cards are a hit with kids (and waste nerds!), we hope they find a second life on playgrounds after the tournament.

Flags of the World Cup Folder

The folder brings everything together and helps people carry their Waste-Free Watch Party Kit home. The cover features the flags of all 48 World Cup teams organized by group, the interior includes the group-stage schedule, and the back outlines waste-reduction strategies.

In addition to the Party Like the World Depends on It materials, the folder contains standard waste-reduction outreach materials such as food-storage and meal-planning guides and the Where Does It Go? brochure. There are also stickers for your bins at home to make cleanup easy. The folder was designed to be a useful reference throughout the World Cup.

Seattle Public Utilities ‘Waste 0’ Jerseys

A great team needs a great kit. We designed jerseys for Seattle Public Utilities’ community-engagement teams so they would be recognizable and excited to represent the campaign. The jerseys are Seattle blue and white, featuring the SPU logo and waste-stream icons on the front and “WASTE 0” on the back. We designed the jerseys so they would be fitting and cool for the World Cup and beyond.

When it comes to managing waste, Seattle is a thoughtful and innovative city.

We have been proud to work with Seattle Public Utilities for years, but this project has been a particular highlight. What made this project special was the opportunity to align the medium with the message. Rather than creating disposable outreach materials, we designed pieces that we hoped people would value and keep. The posters, patches, cards, stickers, tattoos, folder, and jerseys all share the same goal: to transform a temporary public-awareness campaign into something more lasting.

The team at Seattle Public Utilities provided a strong foundation for that work. Their idea to use Seattle’s role as a host city as an opportunity to promote waste-free watch parties was excellent, and their expertise in waste reduction and public outreach helped shape every part of the project.

We hope we have created something that inspires people to make small changes that lead to less waste. We also hope these pieces serve as reminders that sustainability can be communicated through celebration and that sometimes the most effective outreach is the kind people choose to keep.