At the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Carlsberg Group revealed a prototype of the first bio-degradable Green Fiber Bottle ever made. The Danish brewing company seeks to develop sustainable packaging solutions for its products in the years to come. The also Danish packaging firm ecoXpac is involved in the creation and development of the bio-degradable bottle too. EcoXpac is a company specialized in designing, developing and producing fiber-based products. Even though they have been working on the project for some time now, there is still work to do and we will have to wait some years to see a Green Fiber Bottle in a restaurant, bar or store.

The “Green Fibre Bottle” is in a relatively early stage, but we can already see some of the environmental and production related advantages that Carlsberg’s project could have in a future. It is clear that bio-degradable bottles like the one presented in Davos are more sustainable than the ones made of glass. Carlsberg aims to achieve an environment friendly replacement for them. The prototype presented at last year’s World Economic Forum is a bottle entirely made from sustainably sourced wood-fibers, which means that in a future Carlsberg’s beer bottles could be a 100% made from renewable materials. In a world with finite natural resources that can be a turn point for the industry.

According to the Director of Sustainability at Carlsberg, Simon Hoffmeyer Boas, Carlsberg’s “traditional core demographic probably values great taste and good times over sustainability as a purchase motivator”. In deciding which beer to buy we do not usually look for sustainability and that could be a problem for Carlsberg’s Green Fiber Bottle. But the world is changing and so is the beer industry. We are now more interested than ever before in how, where and by whom the products we purchase are made. Carlsberg has the opportunity to differentiate their brand and to be seen as a company worried about the environment. As a possible customer, my perspective of the company and the brand meaning are changing because of their sustainable innovations. They are thinking ahead and more companies should follow their lead.

“Sustainability is about doing the right things, which are also right for the business. Every step of that process is an opportunity to share content with our employees, suppliers, and consumers.” – Simon Hoffmeyer Boas, Director of Sustainability at Carlsberg

http://popsop.com/2015/07/carlsberg-has-presented-a-prototype-of-the-worlds-first-bio-degradable-green-fiber-bottle/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2016/01/18/will-carlsberg-ever-sell-beer-in-wooden-bottles/#7ac8df5042fe

http://www.greenerpackage.com/renewable_resources/closer_look_carlsbergs_fiber_bottle

http://www.ecoxpac.dk/project-the-green-fiber-bottle.html

As seen in class there are two kinds of sustainability marketing objectives: change what people do and change the way they see the world. The documentary Blackfish premiered at the 2013 Sundance film festival achieved both goals.

SeaWorld is a company with many marine mammal theme parks in the United States. Killer whales and dolphins among others are kept in captivity as trained show performers in these parks. Blackfish is a documentary by director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite that follows the controversial captivity of killer whales. By telling the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale responsible for several human deaths while in captivity at SeaWorld, the documentary unveils the dangers of keeping orcas in captivity for both whales and humans. In 2010 trainer Dawn Brancheau died during a show at SeaWorld. Her death lead to a series of investigations about the risks and psychological effects of keeping orcas in captivity. The documentary is firmly against keeping killer whales in captivity and highly critical about the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. 

In my opinion Blackfish cannot be seen merely as a documentary. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite was able to deliver a really strong message. Shortly after the documentary was premiered at the Sundance film festival we could already see the so-called “Blackfish Effect”. People’s opinion (mine included) regarding killer whales in captivity changed drastically because of Blackfish. I firmly believe Cowperthwaite’s documentary changed the way we see the world. Surely mine did. I have to admit I was never a great defendant of animal rights and I had nothing against theme parks like SeaWorld before. Blackfish certainly changed that. John Racanelli, chief executive officer of the National Aquarium, said “baby boomers grew up on Flipper, but millennials grew up on Free Willy”. Now we care about these animals being treated more humanely and we are interested in their welfare. We have evolved as an audience and we want to change how things are being done. Blackfish exposed some uncomfortable truths and people have reacted. SeaWorld is not the first company to suffer from public opposition and will not be the last one.

“I hope this movement grows beyond the SeaWorld discussion. Maybe if we continue to consider how someone else is experiencing our footprint, we’ll walk more softly in general. And that’d be a win for the planet.” – Gabriela Cowperthwaite

References

http://www.blackfishmovie.com/about/

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/nov/11/brancheau-blackfish-san-diego-shutdown-seaworld-timeline 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/blackfish/seaworld-orca-whales-finding-dory/

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/20/killer-whales-not-suitable-captivity-seaworld

Blackfish Poster (Left). Dawn Brancheau with Tilikum (Right)