Research Into Other Companies

I did some research into other companies that display sustainability within their company. I wanted to look into what companies actually did something for the environment and what they did to encourage others. These are my findings.

Triple Velvet
There are other examples of companies trying to help the environment. One is ‘Triple Velvet’ tissue paper , who tries to encourage sustainability. To do this, they re-plant three trees for every tree they use for their product. It is their main advertising campaign and their selling point. They also work with 'Trees for Cities' and 'Kew Gardens' to inspire more people to plant the trees. They're also funding a 'Trees for Cities' project, to plant trees in an area the public vote most deserve it.

Sainsbury's
There are also several ‘Sainsburies’ own-brand products, such as certain cereals, that encourage recycling by printing on their packaging how much rubbish is wasted. One particular product stated that there would be 750 tonne less rubbish if everyone recycled the product packaging. I think they phrased it this way so that people would realise how easy it is to help make a difference. They also showed how keen they were to help the environment by giving away one million green friendly light bulbs to its customers. To claim the bulb, the customers needed to pledge to replace a light bulb with an energy saving lightbulb, take reusable bags shopping, unplug phone chargers when they're not in use, switch to more showers than baths etc. Along with this, Sainsbury's also reduced the energy it used in stores for a weekend by 45 tonnes of CO2. Other supermarker chains have also made small changes to help, such as Tesco used zero-emission electric vans, and Asda asked it's customers to identify over-packaged goods so they could compact them.
Tesco are also huge supporters of sustainability, they are currently the biggest recycler of cardboard in the UK, and all the cardboard they recycle comes back into their stores in the form of packaging within 14 days. They also impressively recycle 100% of their waste, and send all their used cooking oil and chicken fat to be converted into bio fuel.

Kenco
‘Kenco’ coffee have begun to sell their product in a recyclable paper packaging, which reduces the packaging by 97%. You then fill a container at home with the product, and then recycle the packaging so that nothing is wasted and the container gets reused. There is also a section on their website that has an address where to send your eco-refill packet, so it again can be recycled. This makes everything about the packaging recyclable, and if you send it in then they send money to your chosen charity.

Lush
The shop ‘Lush’ has many unique ways of helping the environment. For starters, their soap slices that you can buy instore have no packaging, so you can either take your own container, of ‘Lush’ will wrap their products in biodegradable plastic. Also, you can buy their shampoo bars which again come unwrapped. You can either buy recycled paper for the packaging, or a recycled aluminium tin. In addition to this, one 55g bar is equivalent to three 250ml bottles of liquid shampoo, so you’re being efficient and saving plastic.

Cadbury
One more company that encourages recycling is Cadbury, who reduces the packaging of their easter eggs every year. They now claim that that 60% of their general packaging is recyclable, and over the next few years all plastic will be removed. They're also cutting seasonal and gift packaging by 25% by working with packaging experts 'Wrap'.

Bottletop
Bottletop is a recycling and design company whose main aim is to alleviate poverty in third world countries and help people there get an education. They use bottle caps and tops to create top of the range and unique bags, earrings and accessories, which are sold for hundreds of pounds. They also focus on local craftsmanship as the organisation enables them to generate employment in poorer parts of the world. They run on donations and off the products, and their main locations are Africa and Brazil. There are quite a few organisations that are similar to Bottletop, but I feel this one is more unique as the products sell for such high prices, as opposed to charity shops etc, and the products are also very stylized.

McDonalds
McDonalds started a scheme where eleven of their restaurants took part in a recycling program, where their waste was collected and recycled and used to produce electricity for use in its buildings. McDonalds said that the experiment had cut its carbon impact from waste disposal by 54%. This is another example of a main company attempting to set an example and help the environment.
-McDonalds recycles all its cardboard packaging and has 100% bio-diesel produced from their used cooking oil, and this is used to run their delivery fleet.
- Bun trays and milkshake containers are reused, and their packaging has been re-designed, such as reducing the plastic in salad containers and removing all foamed polystyrene. Also by reducing the size of their bun tray liners by 10cm, they saved 84tonnes of paper in a year.
-The delivery packaging used for their buns, muffins, and milkshake and sundae mix are returned to the suppliers for reuse, which saves a lot of cardboard.

Longleat
Parks such as Longleat have made small changes to try and help the environment. The park has two large gift shops, one of which is full of recycled objects, such as animal sculptures made from recycled cans and materials, jewellery, and furniture. Picture as shown, an elephant sculpture made from cans, one of a range of animals.