Behavior Change
The latest developments supporting a shift toward sustainable consumption, as well as specific ways brands are encouraging less wasteful behaviors.
HP, Girl Rising Mark Int'l Day of the Girl with 12 Inspiring Stories of Empowerment
Today, in honor of International Day of the Girl, HP and Girl Rising — a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating poverty by providing education to girls — are celebrating 12 stories of female empowerment gathered from around the globe as part of the first-ever Girl Rising Creative Challenge. Introduced on International Women’s Day in March, the challenge was a call-to-action to highlight storytelling that has the power to change the world.
Reframing How We Think of Food, Creativity Key to Winning War on Food Waste
Food is one of those issues that gets everyone interested. We all eat it, love it, and unfortunately waste it. But that’s starting to change. Alongside plastic waste (including the cause of the moment — eliminating straws, food waste is an issue that has deservedly grabbed mainstream attention over the last few years.
Seoul Spearheads Global Efforts to Promote Sustainable Urban Tourism
“Tourists, go home.” “Tourists: Your luxury trip, my daily misery.” “Your tourism kills my neighborhood.” These kinds of sentiments have likely been heard in travel destinations that have become victims of their own success and attractiveness. Indeed, for many residents living in popular landmarks, tourism can often be a nightmare rather than a dream. While many cities have been overwhelmed by mass tourism and what is now called “overtourism,” Seoul has been striving to promote alternative forms of tourism that do not put pressure on destinations and offer quality experiences to citizens as well as visitors.
How One E-Waste Recycler Uses Education to Incentivize the Right Behaviors
In the early days of my career, more years ago than I care to admit, I spent a good part of my time explaining to people what e-waste was, that it was hazardous and that it shouldn’t be landfilled. I’m pleased to report that those days are over. Most of us today are well aware of the tide of electronics washing up in China, Africa and elsewhere. The vast majority of us want to ensure our discarded electronic paperweights are properly recycled. We are moving in the right direction.
10 Ways Restaurant Owners Can Take Food Waste Off the Menu
There’s something about your menu that you may not have noticed — a lot of it is trash. But it’s not the quality we’re talking about; it’s the waste.
New Campaign Rallies iPhone 6s Users Against Planned Obsolescence
As Apple, the world’s second-largest smartphone producer, prepares to sign the death warrant of the wildly popular iPhone 6s with the rumored launch of multiple new models later this month, Back Market — the largest marketplace exclusively dedicated to bringing thousands of refurbished electronic devices and appliances from certified professionals to consumers — has launched an awareness campaign rallying the public against planned obsolescence.
How a Celebrity Chef Learned to Love Farmed and Frozen Fish
Ned Bell has no shortage of opinions about seafood. He grew up fishing Pacific salmon off the west coast of Canada and now evangelizes for the future of fish as the founder of Chefs for Oceans and the executive chef at Ocean Wise, a nonprofit organization based at the Vancouver Aquarium that develops criteria for sustainable seafood and lends its logo to vendors and restaurants that meet its standards.
How Beyond Meat Is Turning the 'Meat' Aisle into the 'Protein' Aisle
Is your grocery store’s meat aisle becoming obsolete? If it’s started carrying Beyond Burgers and sausages, it might be. That’s not because meat as we know it — the kind made from animals — is disappearing (at least not yet). Rather, the credit (or blame) goes to entrepreneurs such as Beyond Meat’s Ethan Brown, who argues convincingly that “protein aisle” is not only the more accurate way to describe the offerings there, but also the best location for his own Beyond Burger, a “muscle” made from peas that is so succulent and juicy you’d swear it came from a cow.
Coca-Cola GB Campaign, Packaging Redesign Nudge Consumers Toward Lower-Sugar Options
Coca-Cola Great Britain has launched a new design for the Coca-Cola range, featuring new-look packaging for original Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola zero sugar. The changes unify both varieties with the trademark Coca-Cola red and form part of the company’s commercial strategy to encourage more people to try Coca-Cola zero sugar. Along with the redesign, a £5 million marketing campaign communicates the changes to consumers, featuring 10- and 30-second ads alongside out-of-home advertising. The ad, “One Way or Another,” reminds consumers they can enjoy Coca-Cola, with or without sugar.
US Consumers, Experts Give Businesses a 'C' for Water Conservation
In Nestlé Waters North America's second annual survey of 6,142 US consumers and experts on water-related topics, released this week, respondents ranked clean water higher than getting enough sleep (25 percent of consumers and 22 percent of experts) and eating healthy foods (23 percent of consumers and 25 percent of experts) as factors important to living a healthy life.
Do We Lose Moral Self-Determination When We Work?
The co-working startup WeWork made headlines recently with a new policy banning meat from company functions and barring employees from expensing any meat dishes. The move is intended to reduce the company’s environmental impact, with the company predicting a reduction in carbon emissions by 445.1 million pounds and saving over 15 million animals. Miguel McKelvey, WeWork’s co-founder and Chief Culture Officer, speaks of the policy as not just creating an environmental benefit, but also changing the minds of his employees and creating a culture of personal accountability at the company.
Right Treat Turning Asian Pork Lovers on to the Virtues of Plant-Based Protein
Serial entrepreneur David Yeung wants billions of consumers to join him on a quest to transform Asian cuisine into a leaner, healthier, more environmentally friendly version. And his latest venture, Omnipork, may just be the product that brings people along on the journey.
Coca-Cola Rewards Recycling at UK Theme Parks with 50% Discounts
Coca-Cola Great Britain and Coca-Cola European Partners have partnered with Merlin Entertainments to offer 50 percent discounts at some of the UK’s best-known attractions in exchange for empty plastic drink bottles. Specially created reverse vending machines will be on-site at four of Merlin’s leading attractions and will instantly reward those who deposit their used bottles between July 25th and October 19th, 2018.
Inspiring Consumers – and Companies – to Make Healthier Choices
Last week, over 2,000 representatives from our global community of sustainability practitioners, brand strategists, product and service innovators, thought leaders and other change-makers converged at SB’18 Vancouver to share their latest insights on a multitude of themes pertinent to all of those committed to improving business around the world. Here, we dig into brand and organizational efforts to get consumers to deliver their part of the equation, through responsible consumption. P&G: The road to responsible consumption By Marissa Rosen
New Toolkit Uses Normative Messaging to Encourage UK Citizens to ‘Recycle Now’
Recycle Now, a WRAP campaign that helps people in the UK recycle more things, more often, has launched a new communications toolkit for local authorities and partners, introducing a social norming messaging style designed to motivate citizen behavior change to improve recycling.
Philip Morris International is Quitting Smoking — But Don't Take Their Word for It
Jennifer Motles Svigilsky detests cigarettes. But she recently began focusing on the ambitious vision to help 1.1B smokers quit smoking within a generation. Which is how she found herself in front of a crowded room at SB’18 Vancouver, representing one of the world’s largest cigarette companies.
Campaign Tackling Plastic Microfibres Prompts Consumers to Ask #WhatsInMyWash
New research released by environmental charity Hubbub reveals that 44 percent of people in the UK don’t realize that synthetic fibres such as polyester, acrylic or nylon are actually plastic. Despite that synthetic clothing is on the rise – it now accounts for an estimated 60 percent of all clothing produced – many are unaware of what the microfibres they release and the resulting threats to the environment.
Behaviour Change: The Power of Simple Messaging
Consumers want simple solutions. They need simple messages. And yet when it comes to truly sustainable products and packaging, the reality is quite complex and often requires consumer behaviour change. Leading brands are increasingly investing significant resources to develop and implement innovative solutions that ensure a sustainable lifecycle for products and packaging. The same brands then face a communication challenge: How should they effectively tell their story of progress and innovation in a simple and compelling way that both informs and leads to behaviour change?
Wales Aims to Become First ‘Refill Nation,’ Teach Residents ‘Value of Tap Water’
The Welsh Government and City to Sea, a group campaigning against single-use plastics, are collaborating on the development of campaigns to encourage refills and change residents’ behavior to make tap water their first choice for hydration. While the campaigns will help people ‘see the value of water,’ the government has also announced an additional £15 million of capital funding to further improve Local Authority recycling collection systems and infrastructure, including for plastics.
P&G: 'Long Live Fashion Formula' Can Quadruple Life of Clothes
An announcement today from Procter & Gamble’s laundry brands, Ariel and Lenor (the European sister brands of Tide and Downy, here in the States), revealed that their ‘Long Live Fashion Formula’ could extend the life of clothes by four times, keeping them looking new for longer. By switching from a powder to liquid or single-unit-dose format such as Ariel pods; adding a Fabric Conditioner, such as Lenor; and washing on a cold and quick cycle, consumers can quadruple the life of their clothes.
