Coca-Cola Great Britain has partnered with Merlin Entertainments to offer people half price tickets to some of the UK’s most popular family attractions in exchange for recycling their used plastic drink bottles via a new network of reverse vending machines installed at Merlin theme parks.

A trial at four of Merlin’s leading attractions (Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and LEGOLAND Windsor) will run between 25th July and 19th October 2018, inviting people to bring and recycle any 500ml plastic bottle via on-site reverse vending machines in exchange for a voucher to receive 50% off entry at 30 participating Merlin attractions, including Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and LEGOLAND Windsor.

The project follows research by Coca-Cola Great Britain, revealing 64% of British consumers would recycle more on-the-go if they were rewarded instantly for their actions.

Coca-Cola and Merlin say that the trial is the first of its kind in the UK to offer people a more valuable reward than the original purchasing price of the plastic drinks bottle they recycle, as the 50% off voucher equates to a saving of around £27 when buying a Merlin attraction day pass.

The partnership comes a year since Coca-Cola Great Britain launched its sustainable packaging strategy alongside a global goal to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells, by 2030, to help ensure a world without waste.

Jon Woods, General Manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain, says: “We want to reward people for doing the right thing by recycling their bottles and hope to encourage some people who wouldn’t otherwise have done so. Through this exciting new trial with Merlin Entertainments we hope to remind people how valuable their empty plastic bottle is. All of our bottles can be recycled and we want to get as many of them back as possible so they can be turned into new bottles and not end up as litter.”

He continues: “This is just one of the actions that we’re taking to play our part in achieving a World Without Waste. We buy more recycled plastic in the UK than any other company and we are in the process of doubling the recycled plastic in all our bottles from 25% to 50% by 2020. We’re also running television campaigns encouraging people to recycle, putting clear recycling messages across all of our packs and we’re supportive of new interventions, such as deposit return schemes, to see if they improve recycling rates.”

Sandra Hazel, Head of Force for Good at Merlin Entertainments, observes: “This partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain demonstrates our shared ambition to use our brands for good. We’re constantly looking for ways to raise awareness and help contribute to a better environment. As a responsible business and an advocate for marine conservation, we’re pleased to be joining forces with Coca-Cola Great Britain to encourage people to recycle more this summer, by rewarding them with family fun.”

Jon Dormer, Managing Director at Unisan UK, supplier of the CafeCrush reverse vending machines being deployed in the trial, adds: “Our CafeCrush reverse vending machines reward people for recycling. Users simply insert an empty plastic bottle, it’s crushed and then they receive an incentive. The way the machine works means the bottles are not contaminated by other waste and so, are perfect for recycling. Also, because they are crushed, reducing waste volume by up to 90 per cent, more bottles can be stored and therefore less transportation is needed to get them to recycling facilities – a win for consumers and the environment.”

The announcement is the latest in a series of actions from Coca-Cola Great Britain to ensure its packaging is as sustainable as possible and to encourage more people to recycle. Since the launch of its sustainable packaging strategy last year, Coca-Cola has introduced clearer on-pack recycling messaging on its bottles, and aired a dedicated recycling TVC called ‘Love Story’ which has reached over 30m people.

Coca-Cola Great Britain also continues to be the largest user of recycled food grade plastic in the UK with a commitment to increase the recycled PET in its packs from 25% to 50% by 2020. The company also continues to work closely with UK and Scottish governments looking at the introduction of a well-designed deposit return scheme and other ways to increase recovery and recycling rates.

Coca-Cola Great Britain is responsible for marketing 20 brands and over 80 products to consumers across Great Britain. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognisable brands, its portfolio includes Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper, Oasis, glaceau vitaminwater, glaceau smartwater, Schweppes, Lilt, and Powerade.

Merlin Entertainments plc is a global leader in location based, family entertainment. As Europe’s biggest – and the world’s second-largest – visitor attraction operator, Merlin now operates over 120 attractions, 18 hotels and six holiday villages in 25 countries across four continents, with more than 65 million visitors worldwide.

Unisan UK provides environmental sustainability and recycling solutions to over 1,000 major UK brands, serving Food & Drink Manufacturing, Car Manufacturing, Hospitals & Care Homes, Distribution Centres and the Corporate Facilities Industry.

The post Coca-Cola teams up with Merlin for ‘reverse vending machine’ half price ticket programme appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Too many major brands are coming late to the party and/or delivering paper-thin token gestures in their ‘show’ of support for causes, says Ciara Garratt of global brand experience agency Sense. 

Have you noticed how every brand is trying to prove a point at the moment? How every product you pick up in the supermarket now boldly states its protein content? Or, how the shampoo you bought the other day is suddenly ‘gluten free’?

Perhaps awareness of even a simple form of marketing is heightened for us marketers, but in a society where everything is under scrutiny, and where consumerism is at its peak, it feels like brands are more self-aware than ever before.

In 2008, Heineken brought us the ‘Walk-in Fridge’, racking up millions of views on YouTube. The ad highlights the different values of men and women, as stereotyped in society a decade ago, as a couple show their friends around their new home. The woman shows her walk-in wardrobe to her female friends, while the man reveals a walk-in fridge full of beer to his mates. Both result in enthusiastic screams from their same-sex friends. The advert played on traditional stereotypes in a humorous way – presumably to appeal to what it thought was an all-male audience.

As society has changed, brands have had to adapt to a more nuanced view, which we can see in Heineken’s 2017 #OpenYourWorld ad. Heineken brought together people from different cultures, backgrounds and sexual orientations in a ‘social experiment’, exploring the benefits of finding common ground – Heineken beer and reasonable discussion. The message was raw, empathetic and forward-thinking, which, in the current climate of thriving equality and liberalism, was well-received.

Of course, we expect brands to evolve with the times – they need to stay relevant to the changing attitudes of their audience. But the way in which brands manage that change is critical. Heineken achieved a 180-degree pivot; from clumsy sexist stereotypes to jumping on the equality bandwagon – without irritating the public. Because it was a proactive effort, even though the principle isn’t exactly original, it comes across as relevant and authentic. We’re all entitled to change our minds once in a while (even if it takes the best part of a decade).

What’s more concerning is when real world issues are side-lined, only to later be exploited by brands looking for a hot-topic-of-the-moment.

Plastic no longer fantastic

For example, despite scientists sounding the alarm for years over the impact of plastic on the environment, it seems like brands have only recently started to take action, capitalising on the opportunity to be seen in a positive light.

Do they feel a genuine corporate social responsibility or is it just another tactic to make headlines? It’s particularly galling when the brands in question are category leaders – surely major powers on the world stage should be leading from the front, rather than playing cautious catch up, or only acting when they’re caught out?

Greenpeace has made a number of protests shaming Coca-Cola for its contributions to plastic waste, although coverage of this has been all too scarce. However, when Coca-Cola ‘heroically’ announced that it will recall and recycle 100% of its packaging to help clean up our oceans, it made the news. Shouldn’t we really be celebrating Greenpeace, for acting when it mattered, rather than a huge corporation that showed up late to the anti-plastic party?

Where Heineken has made a positive shift and potentially contributed to changing people’s perceptions, other brands have been less proactive and instead demonstrated a lazy approach to jumping on the bandwagon. A prime example of this is when McDonalds turned the trademark ‘M’ upside down to show support for International Women’s Day. They’re hardly a brand who you would expect to be active on such an occasion, but perhaps like Coca-Cola they were only responding to external pressures.

Brands should be careful about how they portray acts of ‘good’ and must try to avoid looking exploitative. Instead, they should be proactive; earning respect by taking action, instead of just nodding in agreement like McDonalds. What Heineken have done is much more believable and empowering – instead of caring about how they look to consumers, they have focussed on getting the consumer to think about the bigger picture themselves, and hopefully make their own contributions to change.

It’s easy to say “better late than never, Coke” or “at least you’re doing something, McDonalds”; but the reality is that if these brand leaders were more proactive in the first place, they wouldn’t need to jump on the brandwagon. They’d be driving it – and making a real difference along the way.

Ciara Garratt is Account Manager at global brand experience agency Sense.

The post Room for one more on the brandwagon? appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Shopping centre owner intu has launched Big Bugs On Tour, a national experiential roadshow that brings adults and children face-to-face with 12 giant British bugs at 13 intu shopping centres nationwide.

The initiative is being backed by naturalist Chris Packham and features 12 supersized, indigenous bugs including the honeybee, ladybird, hornet, swallowtail butterfly and the nut weevil. It launched at intu Lakeside last week where it will be on display until the end of July before moving around the UK over the next 15 months, visiting 12 other intu centres around the country including intu Trafford Centre, intu Metrocentre and intu Braehead, between now and September 2019.

Roger Binks, Customer Experience Director for intu, says: “Over 35 million people shop at intu centres every year so we hope bringing them face-to-face with these giant British bugs can make a real impact in how they interact and reconnect with nature, and ensure they are happier than when they arrived.”

The campaign, which into says aims to reconnect kids and adults to nature, comes as research shows children are now better at identifying Pokemon characters than there are at recognising British wildlife, despite a £10m pledge from Government to encourage children to get closer to nature.

Research by intu found that almost four in five parents (78%) want their children to be more connected to nature and 86% think they spend too much time looking at screens. However, one in six children in the UK (17%) have not set foot in a park or forest in the last 12 months.

One in five children (21%) were unable to correctly identify a bee while one in four children (25%) have not seen a caterpillar in over a year. One in ten kids (10%) did not know honey came from bees.

Adults were also lacking in their bug knowledge, with one in four (25%) unable to tell the difference between a bee and a wasp and a quarter (25%) unable to correctly identify a grasshopper.

Over a third of adults (35 per cent) of adults say they see far fewer bugs in their gardens now than five years ago with nearly half (49 per cent) saying they are worried about the decline in insects but didn’t know how to help.

Intu’s Roger Binks adds: “We know that a closer connection to nature makes people happier and Big Bugs on Tour is an opportunity to help educate adults and children on the importance of the bugs in their gardens and put a smile on their faces.”

Naturalist Chris Packham observes: “We are facing a crisis in our countryside. I haven’t seen a single butterfly in my garden this year and more needs to be done to reconnect people with nature and start caring for and realising the importance of the bugs in your backyard. intu’s Big Bugs on Tour is shining a big magnifying glass on this and also putting bugs into school classrooms, and is a fantastic initiative to alert to the importance of nature in our lives.”

In addition to visiting into shopping centres, Big Bugs on Tour will also be inspiring school classes around the country to help children learn more about bugs.

The post intu launches giant British bugs roadshow with Chris Packham appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Robinsons, the leading GB squash brand, is returning to Wimbledon as the official soft drink sponsor and taste of The Championships for the 83^rd consecutive year.

This year, Robinsons will support Wimbledon with a £1m marketing campaign, including limited edition merchandise and packs, sampling activity, social media support and a Robinsons pop up café, to drive even further brand exposure throughout The Championships.

With sustainability front of mind, to help reduce the amount of plastic at The Championships, which receives nearly 500,000 attendees and serves close to a million drinks each year, Britvic has introduced new Robinsons personalised reusable drinks bottles. Visitors will be able to purchase the personalised bottle for £7, or just £5 if they return an empty bottle of Refresh’d for recycling to Robinsons’ Play Tennis Café.

Kevin McNair, GB Marketing Director, Britvic says: “Providing consumers with reusable drinks bottles at Wimbledon is part of our ongoing commitment to tackling plastic pollution. We are proud of the fact that all Robinsons PET plastic bottles are fully recyclable in the UK, with 99% of local authorities collecting PET at the kerbside. Plus Robinsons, due to the fact it’s a concentrated drink, uses less plastic per serving compared to many other soft drinks.”

To help fans stay refreshed, Robinsons will also be offering free samples of Refresh’d to consumers in the queue and encouraging visitors to fill their reusable bottles, paper cups or own bottles up for free with their brand-new Fruit Creations range.

Robinsons Squash’d packs have also been given a makeover with a limited-edition Wimbledon pack design.

A supporting social media competition is being run around The Championships, with four pairs of ‘money can’t buy’ VIP tickets and 100 reusable drink bottles prizes given away per week for four weeks, up until July 5^th. To be in with a chance of winning, consumers have to create and name a new Fruit Creations flavour.

The Robinsons partnership with Wimbledon, one of the most quintessentially British relationships in history, was born in 1935 when Robinsons’ original Lemon Barley Water was first served at Wimbledon to refresh players during breaks. Since then, Robinsons has sponsored The Championships annually.

From its beginnings as a one flavour brand, Robinsons now has six ranges in its portfolio, having launched Robinsons Fruit Creations earlier this year and Robinsons Refresh’d in 2017, which was named as the No.1 soft drinks NPD launch of 2017.

The Robinsons brand is owned by Britvic.

The post Robinsons squash sponsors Wimbledon with environmental focus appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Mexican beer brand Corona and charity Parley for the Oceans are taking their partnership against marine plastic pollution to the global stage by hijacking iconic symbols of paradise for today’s World Oceans Day (June 8^th 2018).

As part of the campaign, the partners have created a sculpture, The ‘Wave of Waste’, in Old Street, London, featuring Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (Marvel’s Thor) surfing in a wave of plastic collected in the UK.

Over the last few days, Londoners have been able to contribute to this installation by dropping off their own plastic waste at the site of the billboard.

Corona and Parley launched their partnership a year ago; the latest campaign sees Corona hijacking its own advertising and iconic visions of paradise, plus the classic Hawaiian shirt pattern, to reveal the impact of marine plastic pollution.

Corona is selling a new Hawaiian shirt on its website which features threads made from marine plastic pollution. The Parley Ocean Plastic is collected from the open ocean, remote islands, shorelines and coastal communities. The design subtly features everyday plastic items like toothbrushes and plastic bottles to represent the fact that the issue at a distance is hard to see, but pervasive up close. The limited-edition shirts are available in three colours and can be purchased at wslstore.com/corona for £53 ($70). Proceeds from each Corona Hawaiian shirt will go to Parley for the Oceans to help support its mission to protect our oceans.

Installations like the Old Street one will also be appearing in Melbourne, Santiago, Bogota, Santo Domingo and Lima, all made from plastic collected from local beaches. The London installation includes plastic collected by The Marine Conservation Society from Holywell beach, East Sussex.

“As a brand that is synonymous with the beach, we are seeing the destruction of shorelines and oceans up close,” says Felipe Ambra, Global VP of Corona. “Our ads usually showcase paradise the way we assume it to be, pristine and beautiful, but today it’s increasingly hard to find a beach without plastic. Through our work with Parley, we hope to reverse this trend. This World Oceans Day, Corona wants to remind the world that we all need to protect our beaches to continue enjoying them.”

Corona and Parley point out that roughly eight million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year. To raise awareness of this fact, the brand is inserting plastic into other places it doesn’t belong. Corona is starting by twisting its own campaign tagline and imagery to show the unfortunate fate of paradise plagued by plastic pollution.

Last month, the partnership changed the name of the “Corona Bali Pro” World Surf League event to “Corona Bali Pro-tected”, to make the point that even the most remote and aspirational paradises around the world are suffering.

Corona and Parley are committed to protecting 100 islands around the world by 2020 (see 100IslandsProtected.com). Launched last year, the partnership is already working with local communities in the Maldives, Dominican Republic and Chile and will continue to scale up efforts in several more regions within the next year. Corona x Parley also announced a fundraising platform called Clean Waves in May that upcycles plastic pollution into fashion products for purchase, with all proceeds going to additional island protection.

Parley for the Oceans is a global network covering the creative industries, brands, governments and environmental groups aimed at protecting the oceans. The organization has formed alliances with major corporations including adidas, Anheuser Busch InBev (Corona), Intel and the United Nations.

Corona is the leading beer brand in the Mexico and the most popular Mexican beer worldwide, exported to more than 180 countries. The Corona brand is owned by Anheuser-Busch.

The post Corona partners eco-charity to create plastic ‘wave’ sculptures from beach litter appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Strathmore, the A.G.Barr-owned Scottish water brand, will be supporting this August’s Glasgow 2018 European Championships, the new multi-sport event which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent’s major sports including Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon, as well as a new Team Golf Championships.

Scottish athlete Ross Murdoch (left of picture), Glasgow 2018 sporting ambassador and official ambassador for the Strathmore brand, joined the Glasgow 2018 mascot, Bonnie the Seal, and Jonathan Kemp (right), Commercial Director at A.G.Barr, to help the company launch the partnership.

Strathmore, which has been named as Official Partner of the championships, will be supplying its water to hydrate around 3,000 athletes expected to compete in venues across Scotland between 2nd and 12th August, as well as officials, staff, volunteers and medical teams on the ground.

Strathmore, Glasgow 2018 and Glasgow City Council are working together to ensure the Games are as environmentally-friendly as possible. There will be over 500 recycling bins distributed across venues to encourage the recycling of all Strathmore water bottles consumed at the Championships along with other recyclable waste.

Jonathan Kemp, Commercial Director at A.G.Barr, says: “We’re incredibly proud of the work that Strathmore does to encourage more people to take part in sport as part of its Do More campaign, so to be the Official Water of Glasgow 2018 European Championships, a multi-sport event which will engage and inspire so many people, highlights our ongoing investment and commitment to all levels of sport.”

Strathmore water joins Atos, Gleneagles, Harper Macleod LLP, Avid, NVT Group, Aggreko, Glasgow Airport and Arco as part of the Glasgorowing, w 2018 sponsor family.

The Strathmore water brand is owned by AG Barr. It is currently the official water supplier of British Athletics and IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018. The brand is also a water partner with Scottish Swimming, Scottish Athletics, and Scottish Rugby, and supports many other mass participation events including Edinburgh Marathon, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

The post Strathmore water to make a splash at Glasgow 2018 European Championships appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Toiletries and personal care brand Burt’s Bees is to run a ‘Honey Bee Health’ experiential campaign this weekend on London’s Southbank.

Burt’s Bees products make extensive use of honey and beeswax as ingredients, and last year the company partnered with the British Beekeepers Association on a #BringBackTheBees campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to help save bees, which have seen catastrophic collapses in numbers in recent years.

Experiential agency Ambient is working alongside Talon Outdoor and Omnicom Media Group’s PHD on the ‘Honey Bee Health’ activation, which will challenge consumers to ‘Be a True Force of Nature’ with a Burt’s Bees “Wall of Seeds” installation at the Queen’s Walk on London’s Southbank Centre on 26^th and 27^th May 2018 from 10.00am to 8.00pm. People will be able to collect their own bee-friendly wildflower seed packet to help support the #BringBackTheBees movement.

Burt’s Bees will be giving away 6,000 wildflower seed packets over the Bank Holiday weekend, making a total of 12 million seeds. Consumers will be told they do not need a large garden – they can sow the seeds on a balcony, porch, window box or patio plant pot create a thriving bee-friendly habitat.

Becci Dive, Media Group Manager at Omnicom Media Group’s PHD, says: “We took on board feedback from customers in 2017 that they wanted even more ways to be involved with the cause and help Burt’s Bees to bring back the bees. PHD’s campaign strategy was rooted in this, with the OOH activation acting as the perfect vehicle to do just this, equipping people with both seeds and information to make an impact on the crisis themselves.”

In addition to the experiential “Wall of Seeds”, the brand is launching a Limited Edition Bring Back the Bees Strawberry Lip Balm, and, in partnership with the British Beekeepers Association, will plant 5,000 bee-friendly wildflower seeds in selected areas nationwide.

Last year, Burt’s Bees #BringBackTheBees campaign resulted in 192,852,000 wildflower seeds being planted across the UK by the British Beekeepers Association.

Ambient is an award-winning marketing agency specialising in innovative ambient media, full-service experiential marketing and promotional staffing.

The post Burt’s Bees ‘Wall of Seeds’ experience on London’s Southbank. appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

SodaStream has celebrated the upcoming Royal Wedding by creating a set of limited-edition bottles featuring five exclusive hat designs, inspired by headgear previously worn by female members of the UK Royal Family, and auctioning them off for charity.

The limited edition bottles were put up for sale on royalsodastream.com, with bidding open to royal fans worldwide. All of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to plastic-free charity, Surfers Against Sewage, one of seven charities chosen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to receive donations from people wishing to mark their wedding.

The set of miniature hats were created using state-of-the-art 3D printing and are 100% recyclable. Each of the five exclusive hat designs was inspired by an iconic look previously sported by female royals including Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The concept was dreamed up by Israeli innovation agency, Gefen Team, and developed jointly with SodaStream’s Global Marketing Team.

Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive of Surfers Against Sewage, says: “Tackling ocean plastic pollution should be a top priority for governments, brands and people. SodaStream’s commitment to eliminate plastic and promote reusable bottles is a great step in the right direction towards plastic free coastlines, and sends a strong message to the beverage industry. This fun and quirky project to celebrate the royal wedding further highlights the importance of stopping the single-use plastic epidemic.”

Daniel Birnbaum, Chief Executive Officer of SodaStream, comments: “I take my hat off to the royal couple and wish them all the best in their marriage. I applaud them for embracing the cause of creating a plastic bottle free world and choosing Surfers Against Sewage as one of their official charities. I hope others will be inspired and join the cause.”

A ‘making of’ video can be viewed at royalsodastream.com

SodaStream Sparkling Water Makers enable consumers to easily transform ordinary tap water into sparkling water in seconds. The Israeli-based company claims to be the No. 1 sparkling water brand in the world and says its products offer a differentiated and innovative alternative to consumers of pre-packaged bottled and canned carbonated soft drinks. Its products are available at more than 80,000 retail stores across 45 countries.

The post SodaStream celebrates Royal Wedding with limited edition bottle hats and charity link appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Eco-cleaning pioneers Ecover is opening London’s first Rubbish Café Thursday 3rd May in Covent Garden. The Ecover Rubbish Café is currency free, only accepting recyclable plastic as payment, and will serve a zero-waste menu from eco-chef Tom Hunt.

It will be kitted out with a stylish upcycled décor inspired by eco-designer Max McMurdo and consumers will be invited to learn how to #LiveClean while they lunch in sumptuously upcycled surroundings. The two-day pop-up will serve up inspiration and ideas for simple swaps everyone can make to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic.

The Rubbish Café celebrates the arrival of Ecover’s new washing-up liquid range which comes in a new 100% recycled and 100% recyclable bottle. Free re-fills of washing-up liquid will be available – consumers simply have to bring along any old bottle.

The menu created by Tom Hunt, eco-chef and author of The Natural Cook includes:

• The Revolution Bowl – Spelt and rye grains with red kale, cranberries, hazelnuts, beetroot soya-yoghurt, roasted rhubarb and a pickled hen’s egg;
• The Mother Nature Bowl – Wild turmeric rice, cauliflower and leaves, golden sultanas, coriander, chaat masala, coconut (vegan);
• The Rubbish Bowl – Puy lentil salad with sprouting broccoli, dried apple, wild garlic pesto, pink peppercorns, feta and seaweed;
• Banana bread – made from saved bananas.

The vegetarian and vegan bowl food options will be served on a first come, first serve basis to ensure nothing goes to waste.

Consumers will also be able to swap their plastic for a coffee provided by Over Under.

Ecover says it is waging a war against plastic pollution. It believes that using plastic for a single-use is fundamentally wrong. In 2016 less than half of all plastic bottles were collected for recycling and only 7% of those were turned into new bottles. The resulting impact on waterways and marine life is horrifying with an estimated 12.7 million tonnes ending up in oceans each year.

Ecover’s mission is to challenge the perception that ‘rubbish’ has no value, encouraging people to consider their own plastic use and how they can make small positive changes to reduce their impact on the environment.

Ecover also leads by example – the Rubbish Café marks the launch of Ecover’s first 100% post-consumer recycled and 100% recyclable plastic washing-up liquid bottle, which has a 70% lower carbon footprint than a virgin plastic bottle.

Tom Domen, Global Innovation Lead at Ecover says: “We’ve been fighting for a greener clean at Ecover for the past 40 years. We believe that single-use, throwaway plastic culture has had its day. So, we’ve given our plastic packaging a serious rethink. Our new washing-up liquid bottle is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable – with a commitment that all our bottles will go this way by 2020. The Rubbish Café is part of our Clean World Revolution… to show the public the incredible value of putting plastics back into the recycling system to help close the loop on plastic production, minimising the amount of new plastic that is created. So besides serving up fantastic sustainable food at The Rubbish Cafe, we’ll be revealing small steps we can all make to benefit our environment so more can pledge to #LiveClean”.

Ecover is one of the largest producers of ecological cleaning products in Europe. Founded 39 years ago in Malle, Belgium, Ecover was among the first to put phosphate-free washing powder on the market which were only banned in 2013. With a rebellious spirit, experience and clever science, Ecover has developed vegan-friendly cleaning products with plant-based and mineral ingredients that help consumers clean their homes with great efficiency and minimal impact on our environment. These products are available in around 40 countries and Ecover’s contribution to the environment over time has been recognised by Time Magazine and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The post Ecover opens pop-up Rubbish Cafe to highlight plastic pollution appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

LOUIS XIII Cognac has commissioned an exclusive musical composition from Pharrell Williams which will only be heard in 100 years – and only then if the world’s population has taken the necessary steps to combat global climate change.

The composition, ‘100 Years – The Song We’ll Only Hear If We Care’ was played once only in Shanghai on November 13th 2017 to a select audience who were forbidden to record it in any way. Pharrell’s exclusive track was then recorded onto a record made of clay from the chalky soil of the Cognac region, and stored in the cellars of LOUIS XIII in a state-of-the-art safe specially designed by Fichet-Bauche which will be destroyed when submerged in water.

Following the event in Shanghai, LOUIS XIII Cognac will launch an international tour in major cities all around the world, in order to raise awareness and funds for environmental organizations through charity dinners. Through these events, LOUIS XIII will directly support associations dedicated to curbing climate change on a local level.

If sea levels continue to rise due to climate change, then chances are the cellars will be filled with water in 100 years, LOUIS XIII says, so destroying the recording. The only way to guarantee this original piece of music will be heard again in 2117, one century from now, is by addressing the consequences of global warming. ‘100 Years’ by Pharrell Williams will be out in 2117, but only #Ifwecare.

“I love the fact that LOUIS XIII thinks a century ahead,” said Pharrell Williams. “We should all do the same for the planet. We have a common interest in preserving nature for the future. Each bottle is the life achievement of generations of men and women. It’s all about legacy and transmission.”

“We are incredibly proud of this innovative project,” said Ludovic du Plessis, Global Executive Director of LOUIS XIII. “Nature and time are at the heart of what we do.  If the environment is unstable, even the greatest cellar master would not be able to compose the exceptional blend that is LOUIS XIII.  Global Warming is one of the most important issues of the 21st century; with ‘100 Years – The Song We’ll Only Hear If We Care’, we hope to inspire people around the world to take action.”

In 2015, LOUIS XIII partnered with renowned actor and creative visionary John Malkovich and famous Hispanic American film-maker Robert Rodriguez to create ‘100 Years: The Movie You Will Never See,’ a thought-provoking artistic work exploring the relationship of past, present, and future which will be kept locked up until 2115. The Rémy Martin-owned spirits brand sent 1,000 exclusive invitations to people from around the world to attend the premiere of ‘100 Years’, on November 18, 2115, at the House of LOUIS XIII in Cognac, France. Recipients are being asked to pass these invites on to their descendants.

The Remy Cointreau Group has long been committed to the international effort to curb global warming. It works with the United Nations ‘Global Compact Advanced’ program on issues including sustainable wine-growing practices, energy efficiency, eco-friendly packaging, optimization of product shipments and forest conservation.

“As a company, we must do the best we can every day to make the world a better place,” explained Ludovic du Plessis. “But no single person or brand can stop global warming on their own – it must come from the unified global actions of all people around the world. Together we are much stronger than any person or brand is on their own. This is not about any one city or country but the future of our planet as a whole. Our concern is not primarily for Cognac, but for every city around the world.”

The post LOUIS XIII cognac commissions Pharrell Williams song for release in 2117 appeared first on IPM Bitesize.