New App Lets Kids Send Ads to Parents to Ditch Single-Use Plastics

NEW YORK  -- Today, Gelo is launching a tracker that gives kids the power to follow their parents around the internet with ads constantly urging them to ditch single-use plastics and go greener at home.

The Parent Track, developed by eco-friendly hand soap company Gelo in partnership with Mischief @ No Fixed Address, comes as more children than ever before are educating their parents to be more environmentally savvy.

All kids have to do is visit The Parent Track on their parents' or family devices for said laptops, computers, phones and tablets to get automatically cookied. From then on, that device will receive numerous digital ads with messages from kids encouraging their parents to follow more sustainable practices. These ads, which follow the users around the internet, lead to a suite of educational tools created by Gelo to give guidance on how to be kinder to the environment.

"When it comes to sustainability, our future is quite literally in the hands of our kids—so we've given them this cheeky tool to help educate their elders," said Curan Mehra, Founder and CEO of Gelo. The gel pod pouches results in a whopping 97% less packaging waste compared to the equivalent number of single-use bottles.

Curan continued: "More than 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste will flow into the world's oceans over the next two decades without widespread intervention. It's hoped that this somewhat annoying drive for awareness will convert to tangible change in households across America and beyond."

Ads include notes such as: "You still kiss your kids in public; don't embarrass them more by buying single-use packaging." And: "Your kids aren't mad that you bought single-use packaging, they're just disappointed. Which is way worse."

This tool comes at a time when young climate activists have captured the world's attention. Following 2019's global sustainability strike, in which an estimated 1.6M children took part, a Nature Climate Change study found that kids studying the environment increased their parents' level of concern by an average of 23%. The research found that daughters had the greatest effect—and an almost double (40%) increase in the level of concern among conservative parents.

The Parent Track was created in partnership with Gelo's creative partner Mischief @ No Fixed Address.

Associate creative directors Dylan Wagman and James Leake said: "Using strategies we learned from our own parents—persistence and guilt—the Parent Track utilizes cookies to help kids convince their parents to quit single-use plastics once and for all."

ABOUT GELO & THE PLASTIC CRISIS
One gelo gel pouch, which refills five bottles of hand soap, results in a whopping 97% less packaging waste compared to the equivalent number of single-use bottles. By virtue of their compact design, gelo refills also dramatically reduce the end users' carbon footprint, slashing carbon emissions associated with transportation by 93%, when compared with the equivalent volume of single use bottles.

Gelo has helped divert millions of bottles from landfills since launching on World Earth Day last year.

More than 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste will flow into the world's oceans and land over the next two decades without widespread intervention, according to a group of leading experts.

It is estimated that 64% of all plastic among packaged goods and retail sectors is recyclable, according to the latest Global Commitment Progress Report—compiled with the United Nations, government entities and more than 500 major plastic-producing companies around the world. However, only 1.9% is reusable.

Gelo's formulas are biodegradable and the pouches the pods are delivered in are recyclable and manufactured with 100% wind energy. The gelo refill pod also dissolves completely, unlike competitor refills which are packaged in another plastic bottle.