Every minute, the world buys nearly 1 million plastic bottles – that’s over 54 million bottles every hour.

But bottles are just the tip of a much deeper crisis. Plastic has become a global supervillain – contaminating every corner of the Earth, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans, and now: our bodies.

Plastic pollutes at every stage – from fossil fuel extraction, to manufacturing, to daily use and eventual disposal. It poisons our air, soils, food chains, and water supplies. And now, science confirms what many feared: microplastics are infiltrating human tissue – including some of the most sensitive parts of the male body.

The driver of the crisis is a huge acceleration of plastic production, which has increased by more than 200 times since 1950 and is expected to triple or quadruple to more than one billion tons per year by 2060.

Plastic in the Private Parts

Studies have shown microplastics in our blood¹, in placentas², and in breast milk³, and in a recent study, microplastics were found in penile tissue in four out of five men undergoing surgery for erectile dysfunction⁴.

The most common types identified were Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP) – the same plastics used in drink bottles, food packaging, and countless single-use items.

In another recent study micro plastics were found in 100% of the testicles in the study, which the researchers link to decade-long decline in sperm count in men around the world⁵. This isn’t just about the planet anymore. It’s about your health, your fertility – your future.

Masculinity, Microplastics & The Plastic Bulge

Environmental campaigns often fail to reach men. Studies show that many men associate environmentally conscious behavior with femininity and are therefore less influenced by the messages of environmental campaigns. The Plastic Bulge campaign aims to flip that script by reaching out to men.

In the campaign we are using hyper-masculine imagery and real scientific data to expose how plastic pollution threatens penile health, testosterone levels, and reproductive ability. If saving the planet doesn’t feel urgent, maybe saving your sex life and ability to reproduce will. This isn’t scare-mongering – it’s science. And it’s time all men paid attention.

The Time to Act Is Now

From August 5th to 15th, 184 nations are meeting in Geneva to negotiate a historic UN Global Plastics Treaty. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stop the flood of plastic that’s harming our health and our planet.

Governments must:
✅ Cap global plastic production
✅ Ban toxic additives
✅ Phase out unnecessary single-use plastics
✅ Protect public health – including men’s reproductive health

If you’ve never cared about the environment, ask yourself this:
Do you care about your ability to reproduce?

Share the Plastic Bulge campaign. Your body. Your future. Your move.

Reference list:
1: Microplastics found in human blood for first time | Plastics | The Guardian
2: Microplastics found in every human placenta tested in study | Plastics | The Guardian
3: Microplastics found in human breast milk for the first time | Plastics | The Guardian
4: Påvisning af mikroplast i den menneskelige penis | International Journal of Impotence Research
5: Mikroplast fundet i alle menneskelige testikler i undersøgelse | Plast | The Guardian

This campaign was made possible thanks to the generous pro bono support of the following contributors:
Directing Collective: Glue Society
Creative Agency: Worth Your While, Copenhagen
Stills Production Company: Wildfire Content & M.A.P Sydney 
Photographer: Derek Henderson
Executive Producer: Fletcher Watson
Stylist: Ewan Bell 
Digi Op/Assistant: Jack Burgess 
Retouching: Maria Fimmano
PR: Zoe Brooks and One Green Bean
Press / documentation photographer: Alexander Wienberg Fazio
Media Agency: WPP Media, Henrik Welling, Pernille Fruensgaard Øe, Michael
Hansen.
Media partner : AFADecaux Danmark.