Tetra Pak - Building towards a better tomorrow

Our environment is deteriorating, that’s a fact. We all know it, talk about it, blame others for it and hope for that invisible someone to do something about it. But there are very few who in reality go out and take some action for it.

Tetra Pak has shown its commitment to the cause of environment protection and sustainability through various initiatives over years. This includes school programmes to educate students about recyclability and environment protection, collection of empty cartons and recycling them into useful things, to name a few.

In line with the Company’s commitment to the environment, they recently launched ‘Your Cartons. My Classroom’, along with TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). An initiative to sensitize the people of Delhi towards the cause of recycling and encourage them to come forward and join school students to collect empty Tetra Pak cartons which were then recycled into school furniture for six schools, that were in need of a better learning environment.

To ensure that the message reaches and touches everyone, a 360 degrees campaign was rolled out, with The Times of India as a partner. The objective was to reach out and educate Delhiites on 100% recyclability of the Tetra Pak cartons and to encourage them to become a part of this initiative. The communication mix included two hard hitting TVCs, Press ads, Radio, corporate activations, active online presence and a schools outreach plan through a painting contest and NIE ads. The initiative was also supported by eminent personalities like Dr. Smt. Kiran Walia (Minister of Health and Family welfare Department, Women & Child Development and languages), environmentalist Robert Swan, Shabana Azmi and Kalki Koechlin.

Through this initiative in Delhi and various other efforts in the last one year, Tetra Pak with the help of the students and the citizens has been able to collect approx 2 Lac cartons. These cartons have been recycled into school furniture and Tetra Pak has already donated furniture to Anglo Arabic Model School in New Delhi. Donations to 5 other schools in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai are soon to follow.

Speaking on the initiative, Tetra Pak South Asia Markets Managing Director Kandarp Singh said, “This is a celebration of the collection, recycling and awareness efforts we carry out through the year by engaging with the masses. The success of ‘Your Cartons. My Classroom.’ initiative has been made possible by the support we have received from the people of Delhi. These collected cartons, converted into school furniture for schools deprived of basic amenities will go a long way in ensuring that education reaches every child and that the schools offer a healthy environment for the children. With this we aim at reaching out to the masses and creating awareness about recyclability of Tetra Pak cartons that can help make a positive impact on the society.”

The communication started in the beginning of April through TV, print & radio and reached its crescendo on the 20th and 21st of April via a two day long mega event at DLF Place, Saket.  At the event, which was executed by mycity4kids.com and The Times of India, many Delhi schools and citizens of Delhi participated in various activities involving the theme of recycling and contributed empty Tetra Pak cartons.  An interesting workshop conducted for children by well known artist Rob and performances by Drum Circle and Hari & Sukhmani, added fun to the learning for everyone.

As a culmination of this initiative, a clutter breaking and first of its kind innovation with the Delhi Times was released on 5th May - a 4 page jacket, co-created by school children and printed on recycled paper.

Speaking about campaign communication, Amit Wadhwa, Sr. Vice President, Dentsu Creative Impact Ltd., the creative agency for Tetra Pak India, says, “‘Your Cartons. My Classroom’ is a brilliant initiative to create awareness and educate citizens about recycling. The fact that empty cartons can be recycled into school furniture is incredible and we wanted people to know about it and act by making their contribution. We wanted to keep the messaging simple, yet hard hitting, something that would move people to act. So, we decided that kids should be the evangelists for the campaign, and designed all our communication from the viewpoint of children – those who would be benefited by the initiative, as well as those who were contributing to the initiative. Going by the response, am happy that we have been able to create a positive impact and hope that environment protection becomes an important cause for everyone, and one that each and every one of us contributes towards.”