New campaign to raise awareness of sustainability in Leeds uses Leonardo DiCaprio as mascot.

The campaign asks the important question: “What Would Leo Do?”

Leonardo DiCaprio has been picked as the mascot for a Leeds sustainability campaign as he is the UN ambassador for climate change. He recently made a documentary called ‘Before the Flood’, which details the impending effects of environment decline.

Using the tagline of “What Would Leo Do?”, they will be trying to get students to think about how they could be more sustainable in their day to day lives.

The main messages of the campaign will be to make people aware that glass cannot go in the green bins and to encourage more recycling. Other points are to avoid food waste, buy locally, turn off lights and reduce the consumption of bottled water.

The campaign will take to social media, using the hashtags “#WWLD” and “#GetLeotoLeeds”, both of which will try to get the attention of Leo himself.

The event will take place every day for a week from the 13th March on a stall outside Essentials from 11am-12pm. There will be a life-size cutout of Leo which passers by will be able to take photos with and Leonardo related music (such as Céline Dion) will be playing.

The team behind it said: “The campaign is about getting everyone to think about small ways that they can be more sustainable, as many small changes can lead to a massive impact.

“Plus, with Leo as our mascot, sustainability is now sexy. With everyone’s input this could be really great, and who knows, it might even get his attention #GetLeoToLeeds.

“If you come to our stall you can get a selfie with Leo and enter a competition to win Leo, some fruity tickets and more!”

Look out for ‘What Would Leo Do?’ in the Union from Monday next week.

Polly Hatcher

(Image: Boomsbeat)