This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Alex Haraus never imagined he’d use TikTok. He thought the platform was just kids dancing and doing bad lip syncs. But by the end of 2020, he decided to invent a niche for himself on the platform—outdoor adventuring as a hook for conservation content—and used it to make history. With his high-energy outdoorsman brand as the spark, a fire swept across TikTok in January 2021, and ignited the single largest letter-writing campaign for the environment in American history.
In three weeks, a diverse coalition of lawyers, filmmakers, scientists, conservationists, Indigenous activists, and Haraus himself used every means available to encourage others to send in public comments to prevent oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Haraus helmed the TikTok side of the campaign, engaging viewers with a range of videos and calling them to action by sharing footage of the refuge, creating hilarious stitches, and posting updates about the number of letters sent. Content poured onto the platform, from Scotland to South America to all across the United States. Across Haraus’ own videos, over 6 million people saw content related to the Arctic Refuge, and he estimated at least 94 million people saw content other TikTokers created.
By the time the campaign ended on Jan. 6, 2021, 6.3 million people sent in letters. All that was left was to wait and see what happened next. Regardless of the outcome, Haraus knew he’d finally found a way he could help protect the planet. This was the work he’d dreamed of doing for years, and he almost seemed to stumble into it.
