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Consol's green “Just choose glass” campaign

13 Aug 2009

As South African consumers are increasingly choosing to reduce their carbon impact and expect brands to do the same, Consol Glass has launched a “green” campaign to educate consumers about the environmentally positive properties of glass and “help them develop their relationship to green”.

A campaign that is designed to be free of “green washing” and “green jargon”, it aims to issue an invitation to all South Africans to embrace the green hero within. Glass is 100% recyclable, 100% reusable and natural - a product that is pure and contains no contaminants. The overriding message: “Some choose to dedicate their existence to saving the environment. You just need to choose glass.”

The campaign's stories

The campaign hinges and has been developed around three inspiring stories, each with a different treatment, about the real heroes of environmental activism - about people who have dedicated their lives to remedy the damage nature is suffering at the hands of man as a result of his disregard for mother Earth.

Consol marketing and communications manager, Janine Loftie-Eaton, said of the new green brand campaign: “We have told the stories of three remarkable individuals to illustrate and bring alive our green message in an uncomplicated way that is as unique in approach as it is bold. We hope that through this environmental campaign that is exploring new creative territory; South Africans will begin to recognise the ecological value of glass packaging. Glass takes nothing away from the environment and it leaves nothing behind. Since its structure does not deteriorate it can be recycled infinitely.”

The company's conservation awareness extends beyond its advertising campaigns and it continues to use cullet (recycled glass) as a raw material input in the glass manufacturing process, which eliminates the necessity for quarrying hundreds of thousands of tons of raw materials on an annual basis. For every ton of glass recycled, approximately 1.2 tons of raw materials and pristine landscape is preserved. This commitment is further extended through its expenditure on cullet recycling plants valued at R57 million at the company's Bellville and Clayville operations, as well as operational expenditure relating to the glass recycling project which supports local business.

Commitment to ongoing projects

Loftie-Eaton says, “Green is without doubt the new black and there is a general expectation that brands should be in it for the long haul - a commitment to ongoing projects is valued over short-term marketing tactics. In line with this and issues of sustainability, we encourage glass recycling and promote the management and sustainable use of all resources through education programmes like our annual beach clean-up initiative and our school recycling projects. We have also taken on the headline sponsorship of the Miss Earth South Africa initiative in 2008, 2009 and 2010.”

For more information about the campaign, go to www.consol.co.za.