Example Brand Audit
Fairhaven, MA Information
Fairhaven is a small town on the East Coast of Massachusetts, right next to New Bedford. This town, while relatively small, has a big problem: plastic. Fort Phoenix State Reservation is an area of interest in environmentalist Mary Lou Nicholson. Many audits have been conducted in this region of Fairhaven, and yet the plastic keeps coming back. So how does a brand audit help? This page serves as an example for a filled out data sheet and completed audit, it will also discuss how these clean-ups end out helping a much bigger cause than just the area of Fairhaven.
Current Situation
While not only Fort Phoenix State Reservation is affected by plastic litter in Fairhaven, it winds up here due to the water current and multitudes of businesses along the shore in the surrounding area. This plastic also stays in rotation in the water.
The bags and microplastics, that break from various plastic items, prove to be dangerous to wild marine life as many creatures mistake these bags and microplastics as food[2]. Another area for concern is the fishnets. Many of these nets are cast into the water by local fishermen, and then abandoned. These nets have been coined “ghost nets” by many environmentalists, like Erica Cirino, due to them continuing to catch and trap fish long after they have been cast away as trash[2]. Another layer to all of this is all the other containers, like bottles, which call also trap small marine life within them.
All of this affects our food chain in various ways. For example, fish eat plastic thinking it’s food, now they are absorbing the chemicals contained in these plastics, in-turn we are catching that fish, or another animal is coming along and eating it[2]. We eventually eat these fish, and now we ourselves are ingesting the same chemicals they did. As for ghost nets, these nets kill marine life and creates a disruption in many aspects of these creature’s life cycles[2]. These animals can’t escape, can’t reproduce and ultimately draws other fish toward these nets. Plastic that continues to trap wildlife proves to be a continuous, cruel cycle. If you are interested in the effects of plastic on marine life, visit our marine wildlife concerns page.
Our Goal
During this audit, our goal was to collect data and plastic as much as we could in the time we had. The plastic we aimed to collect consisted of: plastic bags, nips, cups, bottles, fish nets, etc.
Another goal we had in mind was also for the broader picture. Brand audits contribute greatly to eye-opening data against some of the biggest companies in the world, like Nestle or none other than Coca-Cola[1]. The data is used to direct the attention to these massive companies and also used in things like lawsuits. If you want to know more about what brand audits can do, please visit the page “What is a Brand Audit?”
Results
Copy BFFP Brand sheets Template
Explanation of Results
These results show each plastic item collected during the clean-up. As listed, plastic caps were among the most plastic found during collection, followed by plastic bags and then
plastic straws. Plastic with company labels on it will be used to hold those companies accountable for their trash.
These results show a dismal effort with companies like Pepsi Co. and Mars Inc. which were heavy contributors in this audit. Their lack of effort in making their products at least biodegradable speaks loudly over their attempts to make it seem like they are trying to make efforts in the climate crisis. Companies will go to great lengths to do anything but change.Most of their effort goes into greenwashing and making their image look better. Audits tear down this facade and unveil the true image underneath; greed.
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