Case Study: Cleaning up the Dirtiest River in Europe
This blog serves as a case study to learn more about our Creators For Climate Missions, focusing on what worked well and the lessons we learned along the way.
We’ll cover insights from both an environmental perspective and the content strategy side. The River Cleanup campaign in Albania shows what can happen when people, brands, and communities come together for a good cause. See it as a blueprint for upcoming environmental campaigns.
Scroll down to download the case study slide deck!
Mission: Clean the Ishëm
To keep it short, the Ishëm River in Albania is one of Europe’s most polluted rivers. The river is dumping over 700.000 kg of plastic waste straight into the Adriatic Sea, and that’s a big problem.
The pollution is largely due to poor waste management. Plastic and industrial waste collect along the riverbanks, which doesn’t just harm the river & sea, but also all life inside these ecosystems. This kind of pollution ends up affecting us humans too, especially when it gets into our food chain.
The waste management system in Albania is mostly centered around collecting trash and dumping it in landfills. Sadly, as we learned during the campaign, the government, industries, and communities often shift the blame onto each other. Luckily, there are partners and parties involved that want to help come to real solutions and change the tide. Part of this is creating a new narrative of accountability, ownership and collaboration.
To help fix this problem, River Cleanup teamed up with A.S. Adventure to try and make a difference. I, Tom Janssen & founder of Creators For Climate, was also invited as one of the content creators on the project. This campaign wasn’t just about picking up trash— it was about showing people how you can change basic habits when awareness turns into action.
Partners in crime
Here is a small explanation of all the partners that made this project such a success. In short these were the ingredients:
An organization doing work that needs to be highlighted
A (green) brand supporting the project financially
Creators to document and spread the story
Optional: a media team capturing witness accounts and images/footage
This is a great way to structure campaigns and make the most of both operational support and communication outreach. So, let’s dive a bit deeper into what each of the partners brought to the the table for the Ishëm River campaign.
River Cleanup
This world wide organisation is known for its hands-on approach to clean up events. It comes with no surprise that they also handled the operational aspect of our campaign. They were supported by their Albanian branch, local volunteers, local schools and authorities, and made sure the project ran smoothly. Needless to say, their expertise in coordinating cleanups was pretty essential to the campaign's success.
Their approach is ‘first you see the problem, then you do something about it’. Just cleaning up isn’t enough if more plastic keeps getting thrown in the river systems. That’s why education, especially for future generations, was such an important part of this campaign. That’s why we got local schools to participate in the project!
From waste to flakes
The kids from these schools bring plastic bottles from their homes all the way to class, where all that waste gets collected by a recycling partner. At the recycling facility the plastic gets sorted and eventually turned it into flakes for further processing. The money earned from selling the recycled plastic goes straight back into the project, funding new bins for the community and more cleanup efforts. It’s a simple model that makes people more aware and turns that awareness into action.
A.S. Adventure
A.S. Adventure, a Belgian outdoor clothing & gear retailer, provided the financial support that made this campaign possible. Without their help, we wouldn’t have been able to document the work and spread this message. Their involvement aligned with their mission to support environmental projects and make a real difference in the space. By supporting the cleanup, A.S. Adventure also strengthened its image as a socially responsible brand that is committed to sustainability.
The output was then used to generate an article in their quarterly ‘A.S. Magazine’, which is available for free at all stores with purchase, and thus amplifying the communication of the campaign to an outdoor centric audience in the process.
Creators
Myself, Tom Janssen, and Laura Van De Woestyne (@laurafromthedesert) were asked to document the campaign and share the story on social media. For this, I used my personal platform, Tom’s Odyssey (@tomsodyssey), and a brand new account, Tom’s Plan B (@tomsplanb). By sharing both the challenges and successes of the cleanup, we aimed to inspire others to take action with their own communities.
The accounts ‘Tom’s Plan B’ and ‘Tom’s Odyssey’ served different but complementary purposes during the campaign.
‘Tom’s Odyssey’ focused on documenting the full journey, sharing in depth stories about the campaign, the people involved, and the impact we aimed to create. It was the storytelling hub that captured the essence of our mission.
On the other hand, ‘Tom’s Plan B’ was all about experimenting with content formats, testing short, engaging snippets to reach a wider audience and connect with people in a more informal and relatable way. Together, these two channels helped us maximize our reach and impact, using both long form storytelling and experimental content to inspire action.
Next, let’s explore the strategies and methods that made this campaign a success.
Witness, document, create
Storytelling was a huge part of this campaign. The campaign’s content strategy used a 360-degree approach, meaning it used different types of content and platforms to reach a broad audience. For my role in the campaign, I focussed on two formats: short form videos for vertical video platforms and long form video for YouTube.
Short form
For short form content, I invested time in creating reels and photo carousels to highlight different moments from the cleanup. The reels were split between a ‘hero explainer video’ showcasing the essence of the campaign, and supporting reels, that helped share more raw moments during the project.
On Instagram, the hero content reached over 37,000 people across Tom’s Odyssey and Tom’s Plan B. The idea was to capture a powerful visual narrative within an explainer format: piles of plastic, kids helping, and the difference we made in just a few hours. This type of content was easy to share, which helped spread the message.
TikTok was another key platform. We saw that the short, raw clips that showed the behind-the-scenes reality of the cleanup— getting dirty, finding huge piles of trash, and celebrating the small wins, did exceptionally well. TikTok’s audience loves authentic content, and that’s what we tried to deliver. We wanted people to feel like they were right there with us, facing the problem and working to make things better.
The difference between the two platforms and the performance of the videos highlighted the need for a specific strategy per respective short form platform and current online culture.
Long form
On YouTube, I posted a video called "I Cleaned Up the Dirtiest Beach in Europe." This video was a mini-documentary showing the highs and lows of the cleanup—how frustrating it was to see all the plastic waste, how rewarding it was when the project came together, and why it mattered in the long run. The format was a mix between explainer, vlog style narrative and raw moments from the campaign.
After a lot of back and forth, I decided to post this video on a brand new test channel called ‘Tom’s Plan B’. This new channel was solely dedicated to the environmental storytelling niche, giving YouTube a blank canvas to find the right audience for this video. Together with the right packaging (title, thumbnail and hook of the story), the algorithm picked up on the right signals to bring the video in front of the right ‘eyeballs’.
Eventually, the video got over 40,000 views, connecting with people from all over the world that got to understand the scale of the plastic waste problem.
A small part of the campaign
Like explained before, The River Cleanup campaign was more than just my own content; it was a collaborative effort where multiple creatives brought their unique talents to the table.
Laura Van De Woestyne (@laurafromthedesert) shared the story with her eco-conscious audience, sharing the message of sustainability and action with her followers.
Ines Goovaerts (@inesgoovaertsphotography) captured stunning images that visually showed the importance of the cleanup, making it easy for people to see what we were trying to accomplish. Her work was used for A.S. Adventure and River Cleanup branded content.
Our talented copywriter, Tom Peeters (@tomas_paradise), also played a key role by creating the narrative and copy for A.S. Magazine, making sure our story was communicated to an even broader audience.
By combining these different voices, together with the marketing team behind A.S. Adventure and River Cleanup, we created a richer, more diverse campaign that reached both local and global communities.
What we learned
The River Cleanup campaign was about more than just picking up trash — it was about changing how people think about plastic and pollution. Practically, we made just a small dent in the problem of plastic waste… but we did make progress. Instead, we showed that when people come together, they can create real change, even if it’s just one small step at a time.
1. More than just a clean up
One of the biggest lessons we learned is that awareness and action need to go together. One river clean up isn’t enough, especially if people just keep throwing in more and more trash.
To have a real impact, we need better waste management, more recycling, and we need people to change their habits. The schools we worked with were a huge part of this. The kids brought energy, curiosity and hope, which sparked the interest of generations up the line. Documenting the process gave us the media to amplify their story. The team’s hard work will be the social proof and leverage these communities need.
2. Platforms and their culture
Leaning further into this, we also learned how powerful storytelling can be in environmental activism. When people hear a story, they connect with it emotionally, and that’s what motivates them to act. Whether it’s reducing their plastic use, supporting groups like River Cleanup, or even just sharing our video, every small action helps.
Therefor, knowing to choose the right storytelling format and narrative structure are incredibly important to connect with the right audience. Platforms and their cultures differ, and the way you bring environmental stories to these audience need to be adjusted accordingly.
3. Amplifying the message, online
Going forward, we know we need to amplify our message even more. The content we created reached a lot of people organically, but with more strategic promotion (like paid ads or more collaborations) we could reach even more. This was a missed opportunity.
We also learned that involving local leaders is critical. We met with city officials and other players involved in waste management to talk about what needed to change. It reminded us that lasting change requires action at every level—from individuals to local leaders.
Download the case study summary here
In the end, the Ishëm River clean-up was an incredible experience. There were moments where it felt overwhelming, wondering if we could make any difference. But we did.
We filled 400 bags of trash.
We put eco-bins in public spaces.
We made an impact, and we showed that change is possible.
This campaign was about teamwork, creativity, and determination. And I hope it inspires others to do the same.
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