Pornhub's "Dirtiest Porn Ever" donates to a charity fighting plastic pollution with every view.
Let’s get this out of the way: most people have sex. We go quiet when it comes to anything having to do with getting it on — solo or otherwise. And having honest discussions around porn and sex workers in the public sphere can feel like pulling teeth. But, watching porn now helps fund the fight against plastic pollution. That’s right — you could help a cause that wants to clean up the oceans the next time you open the incognito tab on your browser late at night.
Pornhub, the largest porn site in the world, launched new porn to raise awareness of plastic pollution last August. “The Dirtiest Porn Ever” features Leolulu — one of the website’s top amateur outdoor couples — having sex on “one of the most polluted beaches in the world,” according to the trailer.
Plastic pollution obscures the couple as they’re doing the deed, highlighting how trash can ruin the things for others. A cleaning crew clears trash throughout the film so there’s no missing the final throes of passion — for the planet.
“Ocean pollution has grown to become of the most significant global issues of our lifetime,” Pornhub vice president Cory Price said in a statement.
“And it’s only getting worse,” Price continued. “That’s why it’s imperative that we use our platform to raise awareness and inspire change – not just for the time being but for generations to come. We’re dirty here at Pornhub, but that doesn’t mean our beaches need to be.”
Pornhub made “The Dirtiest Porn Ever” in a collaboration with Ocean Polymers, a nonprofit that aims to clean up the waterways. It will do that with OP1, a 60-meter tanker equipped with the technology to collect and process trash. The tanker will be targeted to river mouths that carry high volumes of plastic trash to the oceans.
Heather Wigglesworth, Executive Director and Project and Operations Manager of Ocean Polymers, said the team-up is not “most obvious match.” But, the nonprofit is “thrilled that Pornhub has engaged with us and displayed a commitment to utilizing their voice and reach for positive action.”
Ocean Polymers’ mission is a global one — and Pornhub’s reach crosses continents. The adult film website will make a donation to Ocean Polymers for each view.
The landing page for the movie also offers easy tips and tricks to doing less harm to the planet. It advises using as little plastic as possible and cleaning up after yourself. And — if you end up in a situation where you can’t avoid buying plastic — always remember to recycle it.
The press release notes that there are 12.7 million tons of plastic polluting the oceans. Estimates for how much new trash enters the ocean each year ranges from four to 12 million metric tones.
Single-use straws and water bottles are an emblem of ocean plastic pollution, but they don’t make up the majority. A survey from the Ocean Cleanup campaign release in August 2018 found that abandoned fishing nets up make up 46 percent of trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Other fishing gear is a close second.
Fishing gear being discarded is only part of the problem. Bycatch — non-targeted marine animals that get caught in nets — represents 40 percent of the world’s catch by some estimates, totaling 63 billion pounds a year. Fish, dolphins, whales, turtles, and other endangered species often fall victim to the commercial fishing industry. Losing native species is detrimental to marine ecosystems, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
You also can’t see all the plastic trash. Microplastics — tiny pieces of plastic no bigger than a sesame seed — litter the ocean. They can come from larger pieces of trash, eroded by the waves, or from personal care products. Many scrubs, cleansers, and kinds of toothpaste use microbeads, or mini polyethylene spheres. According to NOAA, microbeads can pass water filtration systems and pose a threat to marine life. Several countries including the United States, the UK, Canada, Taiwan, and New Zealand have banned microbeads from rinse-off products.
More companies are also taking the initiative to reduce excess plastic pollution, including supermarket chains Tesco, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, and Morrisons.
Pornhub Cares — the website’s charitable division — launched “BeeSexual,” a series of nature docs with risqué names like “How to Make a Flower Cum in Three Seconds.”
“BEESEXUAL is a whole new genre of porn dedicated to saving bees,” says the website. “We turned short videos of foraging bees into what they really are: funny, kinky, nature porn featuring the voices of your favorite stars.”
For every view, Pornhub donated to a nonprofit dedicated to bees, including The Center for Honeybee Research and Operation Honeybee.
Commercial honeybees — bees raised pollinate crops — contribute around $20 billion to the U.S. economy each year in fruits and vegetables. Many crops, like almonds, blueberries, cherries, apples, and broccoli, are dependent on honeybee pollination. Native pollinators are also important, contributing $4 billion to the market. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) — massive die-offs of honeybee populations — which surged in winter 2006-2007, is on the decline. Instances of CCD fell 26 percent between 2018 and 2019, according to a recent report. But population loss to mites and other causes is still a concern. Insects pollinate 84 percent of commercially grown crops.
“The Dirtiest Porn Ever” and “BeeSexual” both launched this year, but Pornhub’s past includes other environmental initiatives. It launched a “Save the Whales” campaign in February 2016, pledging to donate a small portion from videos watched to the conservation nonprofit The Moclips Cetological Society. Whales are affected by overfishing and climate change — and research shows that their populations can even hep mitigate rising global temperatures.
In 2014, for Arbor Day, the website kicked off “Pornhub Gives America Wood.” The initiative donated one tree for every 100 videos watched in the (sigh) “Big Dick” category. A total of 15,473 trees were planted as a result.
“The Dirtiest Porn Ever” campaign ends on September 27.
This post was last modified on December 15, 2020 5:50 am