Recycling is something that we all know we should be doing. Some people are good at it, breaking down everything into their own respective bins for recycling; some people aren’t great at it, simply throwing everything to landfill. This is wear advertising comes in, it’s not like normal advertising and it’s not selling anything in the traditional sense. It’s not trying to get people to part with their money; it’s trying to get people to part with their time and effort.

Here are some of the absolutely amazing ways that advertisers have come up with to try and convince the public to recycle their waste.

Salvador City Hall

This great campaign for Salvador City Hall by Propeg beautifully highlights how we put emphasis on the expiry date on the content of the food and completely ignore when its packaging will expire.  In this example, a jar of olives, the jar won’t expire for over 4000 years. This is a really simple showcase that allows people to re-think how they’re disposing of packaging and potentially puts pressure on manufacturers to consider their packaging design also.

Butts and Bits – Surfrider

Surfrider is a charity renowned for its great awareness campaigns and this one is no exception.  Butts-n-bits is a great execution of a simple idea. With 200 million lbs of cigarette butts discarded in the US each year, in the future this blister pack of cigarette butts represents all that the ocean could have to offer.

Surfrider expand this campaign with their other product lines of ‘styrofoam bites’, ‘aerosol valu-pac’ and the ‘plastic surprise’. Each of these ‘products’ highlights in shocking ways how our refuse  will affect us in the future and what we should be doing to combat it.

Reverse Vending Machine – Sydney

Sydney has tried a number of different ways to ensure that its waste is properly recycled and they may have finally found a way of getting the public on board.

The new, Reverse Vending Machines are essentially a form a bribery that rewards recyclers with rewards when they recycle.

Every time a person deposits a recyclable material into the ‘vending machine’ they can receive a reward, from food vouchers, giveaway draws or a small donation to the ‘Clean-Up Australia’ cause.

Deal with the Consequences – Brazil

Whilst not specifically a campaign about recycling, this campaign by Brazilian Agency, Quê Comunicação, tackles the over-arching issue of how we treat the environment in general.

This campaign for ondazul.org.br is a campaign that draws upon the fact that few people think about the consequences of the actions when it comes to the environment.

The campaign pulls into view the consequences of your actions and how our current actions are only self-destructive.

What Goes Around Comes Around

‘What goes around comes around, keep the sea clean’ is a powerful message backed up by strong imagery in this advertising campaign for Emirates Environmental Group by JWT.

The premise is simple, you get out what you put in and in this case, what we put into the ocean or environment is what we’ll get out of it.

JWT pieces this message together with strong photography of sushi made from plastic bags and in other visuals a fish dish with an black oil sauce and a clam dish with bottle-top garnish.

At Eco we are dedicated to producing our products from recycled and sustainable sources. If you’re interested in learning more about how we do our part in conservation, recycling and renewable energy, click here.