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INSTAGRAM LINKEDIN Proudly a B Corp®
Restore a damaged reputation or drive vital behavior?
2 min read

We were approached by a global drinks company to help them in the ongoing war on plastic. Images of their bottles in the stomach of a dead seagull lying on a beach were damaging their reputation as a company offering nothing but natural and healthy drinks.

 

Call for Change

We were approached by a global drinks company to help them in the ongoing war on plastic. Images of their bottles in the stomach of a dead seagull lying on a beach were damaging their reputation as a company offering nothing but natural and healthy drinks. 

We reframed the brief into a search for triggers to improve the behavior of people with empty plastic bottles. With too limited structural changes in sight, we preferred to spend time and energy on identifying vital behaviors for a more responsible dealing with plastic than focusing on a narrative that could be confused with greenwashing. 

 

Fierce Empathy

In today’s world we all feel the need to have a drink close by, wherever we go. Small plastic bottles are ideal to pack your drink. They are lightweight, clean and affordable. Most of the bottles end up in a bin. Far too many though somewhere on the street, the beach, in a park or forest. How to influence people to not litter with plastic bottles, or even better recycle them properly?

We met people on all continents to talk about their recycling behavior and recycling systems. We met professionals in the garbage industry. What do you do, why do you do it that way and how can we trigger positive behavior? Deep down no one wants to pollute the earth, but people cannot carry the load of the pollution on their own. People want to feel part of a system that tackles it together. It is easier to contribute when being part of a movement, when knowing that every little individual step sums up to a large collective impact. People do not want to feel immobilized thinking their action is merely a drop in the ocean.

 

Regenerative Impact

Not focusing on a bad reputation but on triggers for better behavior led to specific messages and measures around plastic bottles. Depending on the societies we adapted the messages and the people we were addressing. This involved the people using our bottles, the factories recycling them, and the governments installing a system that includes trash bins and trash pick ups.