When selective sorting makes its way into our bathrooms…

For this first day of Sustainable Development Week, let's take a closer look at a new partnership... yes, the Garnier brand (from the L'Oréal group, because I'm worth it) has teamed up with Eco-Emballages to offer the first bathroom bins designed for selective sorting! (and no, it's not an April Fool's joke!)

A publicity stunt, you must be thinking, but one that follows some serious observations!! According to an IPSOS study published at the time of this launch, it emerged that while 84% of French people sort their packaging at home, only 55% systematically sort in the bathroom and 21% do it correctly... so the question is: is it a useful publicity stunt??

Garnier has been focusing its entire communication on environmental responsibility for several years, notably by reducing the weight of its packaging (from 23.5g to 18.5g, a reduction of 5.5 grams, saving 300 tons of CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere per year!!), so yes, we can talk about Greenwashing when we see that an entire campaign is launched around this green argument which is far from coherent with the brand's overall approach...

Indeed, it leaves one perplexed when one knows the composition of their products... and that in terms of format, there are much more ecological options (offering family sizes, for example, to minimize the impact and the number of containers!)... but let's say it's a start (and even a first for a private industrial group) and that other brands could get involved, but not only in terms of packaging but also in terms of product composition... !

On the website, the brand played on interactivity and fun by providing lots of small eco-tips... with icons and information on strategic places in our bathrooms to avoid waste...

I still come back to the essential, the partnership and our famous special bathroom bins for selective sorting! I have a soft spot for these colorful & fun bins with their two distinct compartments and their nice illustrations explaining which products they can receive (ideal for children to develop good habits!)

The yellow part is for recyclable products, hence the plastic bottles, cardboard, and metal in the drawing, and the blue compartment receives non-recyclable products: cotton swabs, make-up remover pads, and toothbrushes...

A clever marketing operation indeed, as 15,000 bins are being distributed for free. "Garnier will offer them to its loyal customers via its website (a strategic medium for creating buzz) and Eco-Emballages will distribute them to residents in local communities where recycling performance needs to be improved," explain the two partners.

Séverine