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jg@sukle.com
Tasked by Denver’s Office of Climate Action to help make climate action a social norm across the city, we started with a key insight about our fellow citizens: Denverites believe climate change was real. They feel genuine concern and have a desire to help. But the scale of the problem created cognitive overload. When everything feels urgent, nothing feels actionable.
So, as part of our “Do More, Do Less, Do Something” campaign highlighting 70+ specific climate friendly actions Denver residents can take, we transformed one of the simplest behaviors—thrifting—into both message and model. Partnering with Goodwill Colorado and local makers, we created an upcycled fashion line and an in-store display crafted entirely from reused materials - we even produced branded Denver Climate Project totebags made from upcycled billboard vinyls from our campaign.
The partnership was designed to benefit the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator, a green jobs initiative to scale the clean energy workforce. And, by wearing the clothes and sporting the gear, Denverites helped spread the message themselves. Rather than simply telling people to act, we gave them something to participate in, proving climate action can be stylish and accessible while turning our message into literal climate action.
The clothing and accessories from our collection flew off Goodwill’s shelves, selling out long before the campaign ended. In total, over the 3 months of the campaign, we created and sold 292 custom upcycled items, with sales proceeds of $2,173 that were donated to Goodwill’s Clean Tech Accelerator Program. And metrics for the broader “Do More, Do Less, Do Something” campaign the Goodwill partnership was a part of landed above plan across the board:
• $263,000 in earned media value — nearly 2/3 of the paid budget
• 58% campaign awareness generated in just 3 months
• 68% of respondents said the campaign makes them want to take new climate action
• 24.7% increase in residents planning new climate-friendly actions in the next 90 days
• 2 min 30 sec average time on campaign website — extraordinary for a government initiative
• Yale’s Program on Climate Change said The Denver Climate Project was among the most strategic and comprehensive municipal climate communication efforts worldwide.
