Zuzu, the Animated Hermit Crab, Inspires People to Reduce Plastic Usage With His Intriguing Journey

Most hermit crabs these days are suffering from a housing crisis. As natural shells become scarce due to the climate crisis, these creatures are turning to trashed items made of plastic for their shells. Zuzu (@JoinZuzu), the animated hermit crab, is one of those crustaceans that walks around wearing a humble shell made of a broken plastic bottle. He had no choice because humans are irresponsible when it comes to disposing of the trash. S.C. Johnson, the world’s leading manufacturer of household cleaning products, collaborated with Zuzu and launched a campaign against plastic pollution.

In a short animated film the company published, Zuzu can be seen roaming on a beach in the Philippines and coming across a broken plastic bottle, which he ends up using as his shell. Hailed as the “must-see movie of the year,” the film is already steamrolling among climate scientists and environmental experts. The bittersweet storytelling has struck thousands of people who are re-thinking what they bring inside their homes and what they dump into their bins.

On his official website, Zuzu describes the scale of plastic pollution that the world is experiencing right now. Oceans, which are supposed to cradle and protect wildlife, are now drowning in a bevy of plastic litter. Marine life is suffering. More than 900 water-dwelling animals have been affected. 

According to a report by The Smithsonian, a group of scientists discovered that more than 85 percent of the objects that hermit crabs were using as shells turned out to be remnants of plastic. “What the hermit crabs are doing, in selecting plastic and other litter over natural materials, should serve as a very visual warning of what is a much wider but often less visible problem of our own creation,” David Santillo, a scientist, told The Independent. It takes nearly 500 years for just one plastic bottle to break down inside the ocean.

The aforementioned short film shows Zuzu, the protagonist, wandering around on a beach at sunset, watching humans collect discarded items and pile them up in their trash bags. The scenery appears mesmerising. The only thing that’s gross about the entire seascape is that this sand is littered with plastic items. An expert from @4Oceans explained that all this plastic usually comes from the inland alleyways, streets, and homes. When it rains, it washes away into the oceans, whose vigorous undercurrents dump it on the beach.

So while a man is walking away with a bag of plastic trash in a scene, Zuzu emerges on the beach and notices that a piece of a broken plastic bottle has fallen away from the bag. With his googly eyes popping wide, he jumps inside the bottle fragment, wearing it as his shell. From here, he embarks on a mission to save the planet. Trudging across dusty roads, avoiding the traffic, crawling through the busy city, he hops aboard a truck that dumps him inside a ship.

He shivers as the ship sails on the roaring waves and as torrents of rain cloud the glass window in front of him. With the help of a man, he reaches the recycling factory of S.C. Johnson, where he finally loosens his shell and drops it in a recycling machine. An overlay caption reveals that the company has cleaned up over 5 billion plastic bottles from oceans and rivers. And Zuzu has been a game-changer. “I believe in miracles. I believe in a better world for me and you,” a voice sings as he traverses his inspiring journey.

You can subscribe to Zuzu (@JoinZuzu) on YouTube to follow him along this inspiring journey.

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