Soapbox Foundation - Captain Fanplastic
Organization Details
Captain Fanplastic (watch video) raises environmental literacy that drives behavioural change in order to connect youth more to their environment, prevent plastic pollution and inspire climate action. #NoTrashButTreasure
Our experiential education uses storytelling, gamification, technology and outdoor action to help youth contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (11, 12, 13 & 14). The aim is to tackle plastic pollution at the very source by positively changing human behaviour.
Our activities can be subdivided as following:
School Programme - Facilitating our module at a public schools
School Challenges - Challenging schools with our DIY kits to cleanup their community
Public Cleanups - Organising real treasure hunts in polluted environments
Book Donations - Storytelling events where children receive their CFP book
Captain Fanplastic has a Big Hairy Audacious Pirate Goal to reach 1 000 000 learners with environmental education by 2030.
Impact Story
At Captain Fanplastic, we work with children aged 6–10 across African coastal and island communities where plastic pollution severely impacts the environment and daily life. Since launch, we’ve engaged over 25,000 children in countries like South Africa, Cape Verde, Madagascar, and Seychelles.
These communities often face poor waste management, limited environmental education, and weak policy enforcement—resulting in plastic entering oceans at alarming rates. Globally, plastic accounts for 80% of marine waste, with over 12.7 million tonnes entering the ocean annually.
Yet, children—especially Generation Alpha—are motivated to act. 67% say they want to make saving the planet their career (UNICEF, 2019), but they lack structured support: only 2.4% of major climate funds go toward youth activities.
Our programme bridges that gap. Through storytelling and experiential learning, we reconnect children with their environment, inspiring them to understand, love, and protect it. Their natural curiosity, creativity, and eagerness to help are our greatest strengths—and we build on these by turning environmental education into hands-on action.
By empowering children with knowledge and purpose, we help create a generation of environmental stewards ready to shape a cleaner, more sustainable future.