COMPETITION - Get creative with old plastic Coca-Cola bottles

COMPETITION

PR is a funny game. Seems every day I get an invitation to try out some 5* eco resort in Peru which, while nice, may just cross a few ethical boundaries I may have on enviROI grounds.

Yet a genuine, local, consumer reuse story I have to stumble across in, of all things, a trade website!

Whatever tracky things the PR industry uses need a tweak.

WHEN: Six weeks, from now to Sept 30.

WHAT: Get creative with old plastic Coca-Cola bottles

WHAT... MORE?: The http://www.dontwastecreate.co.uk/ site seems a bit of a zoo, so here from the original summary:

The online initiative, in collaboration with supermarket Sainsbury’s, will “encourage consumers to use their waste packaging at home in a fun and useful way, while also pledging to recycle”.

Parents will be asked to submit recycling ‘pledges’ – such as turning used bottles into products such as bottle bird-feeders or self-watering bottle plant pots – and those taking part will receive money-off vouchers for CCE products and the chance to win a ‘glamping’ holiday in France.

“Through utilising an accessible online mechanic, the campaign helps us to reach a wide audience, allowing us to communicate to customers across the UK how easy it is for them to play their part.”

I will have to ponder that last paragraph a while to grasp what it means. Maybe I need a small child to translate.

HOW MUCH: Free! As always, just as we like it. 

URL: http://www.dontwastecreate.co.uk/

COMMENTS: It will probably freak them out that to 'How often would you say you recycle in the home?' I opted for 'Never' because, of course, we don't recycle, we reuse.

And, immodestly, most ideas already on Junkk.com using their stuff are a whole lot better than what they are putting up in example.

Also, as a bit of geeky web input, it's rather disconcerting to fill it all out, hit 'Pledge' and get nothing other than a return to the blank form. I'm also not sure what I downloaded from the ideas button, as nothing happened bar getting an instruction PDF.

Still, for my name & email, a chance at a glamping holiday may be worth it still.

I wonder how sincere they are about reuse, though?

Product RE:view - Sainsbury's Milk Pouch

Disclosure: This little effort is going to compete pretty much with my RE:tie idea. Not directly, but with the caps used on many milk bottles. So it is hard to be totally objective in seeking its success. Looking on the bright side, it may make the cap & bottle guys find some merit in a device that not only promotes reuse, but gives their products an edge, too. Just sayin'

Update - a few very interesting comments has made it worth reposting since the 24/05/10 first publication.




Background

As part of a greening initiative, supermarket Sainsbury's have put on a push to promote the use of these milk pouches in the JUGit

They have seen some success. Interestingly another retailer, Waitrose, has not. An odd difference in light of their demographics, which I would have pegged as pretty similar.

Use

Buying is no problem, though there is a trust factor in carrying it in your basket and or bag home. They claim it can be dropped and not burst, but I was more concerned with being pierced. As were a few others. Hence, ironically, all of us asked for a plastic bag to put it in in case it leaked onto our eco-reuse bags.

Oh, and you'd better like semi-skimmed, at least for now. At least it is..'green'

Once home, set up was a breeze. Simple, neat design.

However, it is not so neat in terms of fridge footprint. Where the bottles stand high and fit neatly. the jug sucks up space.

Eco

It's about waste, right?

Well, I am biased. I don't throw milk jugs away. I reuse them. And if they do end up in the bin, in this neighbourhood they get recycled. But I do concede that, where this does not happen, a bag is a lot less plastic than a bottle.

Thing is there are also the contents. Now here I can put hand on heart and say I am not convinced. With my lovely 13-year old assistant to set up as I shot the pix, the initial spout pierce sent a gollup up into the pouring ring. This was impossible to rescue easily and ended up missing the cup. The rest of the bag drained fine, but there was some left over due to the spout pierce design. Now, you can get at this, but it is fiddly. With a bottle you get it all... easily.

Also not too impressed by the different but near identical instruction sheets supplied; one from maker and one from retailer. I'd say a single combo might have been more 'on message'.

So... not too convinced, TBH, on almost all counts bar the raw materials one.

So it will be interesting to see how it gets received elsewhere.

At least I now have a nice new jug. That is pretty much useless for any other function.

ADDENDUM

Seduced by the offer (frankly, I think they might need to offer more savings for longer, as the deal is not too great), I have just made a complete horlicks of the next one, thanks to not having my spex on.

I put the bag in upside down. Not sure this made much difference to the now familiar fountain that went everywhere on piercing, but it certainly doesn't work on the pouring. Most ended up in the jug and coming out the edge rather than the spout. Now all, ironically, decanted into a more traditional milk bottle I had handy (well, about 1,000 odd)

Addendum 2 - Tescos trying too now, ironically, the day I get a very sensible comment from a reader. Why have the jug, at least in this form, at all?

Addendum 3 - Have revisited the trade mag piece above, and only now via comments got reminded of ASDA Green Bottle, or Greenbottle (Google, amusingly, tries to correct one to the other, though it seems wrong). Couple of issues here. First up, I'd forgotten all about it. Now, we shop at ASDA rarely (though pop in, like we do with the protagonists Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Tescos already cited), and I don't recall ever seeing it. So, as with all things, how these options are presented are crucial in the whole consumer acceptance mix.

For all the preference expressed for these by the posters, I'd have to say that my feelings on this option are equally mixed. Seems like a more familiar, possibly convenient design, but there are a new set of eco-compromises. In this case, it's less a matter of reduction but almost purely recyclability. And that, again, depends on the facilities provided from retailer to local authority. You pays yer money and take yer chances... even with what's best for the planet.

Addendum 4 - The product manager for JUGIT has taken the trouble to write, and is well worth checking out for his views.

Joined up what again?

EU law forces Sainsbury’s to ditch witches’ fingers

Is this part of the 'Love waste, love barking regulations even more' campaign?

Little acorns?

In the spirit of pushing BTNs I share...

Sainsbury's and HP buddy up on recycling jamboree

However, a day at a store smacks of a stretch.

BOGOF... in a nice way

UK: Sainsburys two-sided paper receipt a success

Can't fault it. Hence it goes up.

NEWS/Commercial PR - Good things in little packages

Shameless plug time.

I was recently asked if I would like a free sample of an eco-product to test. Does Al Gore not need frequent flyer miles?

And lo, they have arrived. Even more lo, or actually hi, because someone cares what we think at Junkk.com about their efforts to do better by the future, they do indeed get a mention.

Better yet, they also get to see their pack uploaded to the re:use ideas section, to show that whatever washing might be going on, there's a lot of mitigation possible too.

There may even be a RE:view to follow, as these goodies will not be wasted (Jute bag already put to good use as a fabbo 6 x bottle carrier last night) and will soon be fighting stains in our eco-wash.

Meanwhile, here's the PR, E&OE:

Washday greens

Sainsbury's is launching a new range of Sainsbury's Super Concentrated Liquid Gels, which are kinder to the environment whilst still caring for clothes, and that deliver great results time after time.

· The products are super concentrated so only half the amount of a standard liquid is used

· This lightens the load on the environment using 40% less packaging, 50% fewer lorries on the road and 50% less water

The range comprises:

- Super Concentrated Liquid Non Bio 735ml
- Super Concentrated Liquid Bio 735ml
- Super Concentrated Liquid Colour 735ml
- Concentrated Liquid Lavender and Jasmine 735ml

The products are now available at all stores at £2.48, which at 21 washes per 735 ml bottle works out at just under 12p per wash. Prices have been kept in line with their other liquid detergents and do not carry a price premium.

I wonder what road tax they pay?

There's a trend afoot, epitomised by this: Lexus hybrid woos Sainsbury's chief

First we had Sir Stuart Rose in his 6 litre hydrogen 7 Series Beemer, now this.

Now I'm all for encouraging better environmental practice, but our national broadcaster doing commercials (it was on the main page - doubtless to show how 'we' can stop glaciers melting) for retailers and makers of high end greener-ish luxury motors, sorry, limos, doesn't seem the best way to bring it home to the masses. At least, in ways that might be taken in the inspirational way that will doubtless be claimed.

I'm opening a book on Sir Terry or (actually the others don't seem to have the PR direct dial to the BBC these others do, so don't get on that often for their names to register) being covered roller-skating (£17.99 a pair, with 10% off to viewers) over the Atlantic to visit the US operation.

Bums on seats. Heads in hands?

Greenpeace tears into retail 'eco-villains'

I can't be sure (there have been a lot recently in different guises), but this would be the fourth 'survey' of green goodness/badosity this week.

And what are we, the public to make of this?

At this rate we'll need to go to about 20 different outlets to get the best option of each shopping list need.

In the old days that would have been the shops in the street. However this would seem to indicate a 'green-crawl' to do the weekly shopping.

And whilst in some ways understandable, does not replying warrant an 'F'? I am unsure that not subjecting oneself to a body's 'cooperate or else' 'survey' paints the surveyor in the best light either.

I fear a battle looms, and the consumer and planet again will be the main losers.

Guardian - Sainsbury's aims to regain green ground from rivals - I'm sure they mean to 'be' the most 'yadayadagreen' retailer, not 'seen to be'...;) That would be, well, it just wouldn't wash.

Message from the front

GREENPEACE AND FRIENDS OF THE EARTH - BOTH USING YOUTUBE

Whale & Chips - Can't fault it/them. More power to this kind of activity, which is where Greenpeace excels.

Shop Local - It's well done, and I guess gets a message across. But from my earliest days it was dinned into me by a succession of CDs that, while fun, devoting the majority of your ad to the negative is often taking the easy, soft and otherwise not so effective option.

OK, so there's an exclusive dig at Tesco (missing me completely as we have the choice of Morrisons or Somerfield). Fair 'nuff. I guess they symbolise the evil empire to many (odd they topped the Climate Brand Index thingie on these pages t'other day, though).

But really what else did I get? Some nice local folk were going to vanish. Tell me about it. Our High Street has more boarded up shopfronts and charity shops than there are actual businesses!

It certainly is not easy. And there are a myriad issues to address, from parking convenience to time pressures to costs (though often local can be cheaper) and the fact that council rates are not exactly helping.

It would be neat to see the sense of fun of this execution being injected into a positive branding message for the quality of the produce and the experience.

I love walking the strip and getting fresh food that tastes 100% better, and all with a cheery bit of personal service taboot.

Trouble is, they don't usually offer this on Sundays, which is often the only day I am free to help with the shopping.

ADDENDUM, thanks to Dave -

Talkingretail.com today reports that Tesco comes out on top of a new 'climate brand index'. This has been launched to track consumer perceptions of how a business is performing in terms of climate change issues.

Interesting to note that BP manages second place.

Me again: Meanwhile..... M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose top green supermarkets study

Bin & Gone - Freebie Alert!

I'm rubbish at PR (quite good at rubbish).

I can write the release and all, but all the other stuff, the stuff that really counts, such as calling and cajoling, etc... nah. I send it off and, if I call at all it will be but once. No more. Which is not what it takes.

What it takes is persistence (and staff/time/budget I don't have), plus a polite manner.

So eventually, I, very busy media overlord, have succumbed to the charms of a very nice young lady.

After her 3rd call on when I was going to put up what I said I might when I had a 'mo, here it is.

It's a bucket.

A wee while ago a nice courier turned up with a nice box in a big plastic bag, and this was what was inside. Along with a helpful 5-page set of instructions.

It's from Cedo (leader, so the blurb says, in a wide range of household disposable - hold that thought - products), and Sainsburys.

And between them they are giving away 150,000 of these little chaps, from now 'til the end of the month.

So if you fancy a bucket, free, I'd scoot along.

Thanks to being in the right conferences at the right time, I already have a few, and they are very nice. As a means of getting stuff from the house to the compost bin they do serve a very helpful function. Many other buckets can do the same of course, but as this is free it's a 'why not'? If you fancy being even more eco of course, Junkk.com awaits any and all suggestions for second use packaging that can do the same and not use extra resources.

There is the lid of course, which is vital at this time of year to avoid fruity flies buzzing about in between empties down the garden end. I speak from current experience, the lid having popped off the paint can I was using.

I do also note that CeDo have available compost caddy liners, which will provide years of useful convenience. They should be, by all accounts, changed a minimum of 2-3 days. I'd say that could be stretched a tad.

Then again, you may prefer the option, as I do, of lining the bottom with an egg box, sides with newspaper and slotting small cereal packs inside to offer the right organic/fibre mix to make for a nice brew.

Gosh, I feel like I've come all over moneysavingexpert.com. Just call me Martin.