Dear Tim Hortons.......

Disclaimer: I love Tim Hortons coffee. In fact, I brew it every morning at home in my Tim Hortons home brewer and drink it out of my Tim Hortons reusable mug. It is the beginning of my day….every day.

February 18^th, Tim Hortons will be launching its 2013 “Roll Up the Rim To Win” Contest (the link is to the 2012 contest - I will change it once the new one is launched). For my non-Canadian readers, the contest involves specially created disposable cups that have a “rollable” rim. After drinking your java you roll up the rim to reveal if you have won a freebie. Prizes include: coffee, food prizes, camping packages, televisions, gift cards, cameras and even a new vehicle.

Ya….it’s a big deal in Canada

As a result, Tim Hortons disposable cups with the rollable rim become a valued commodity (there have been court cases because of the cups). Why is this contest so popular? I think it is because the Roll up the Rim contest is the great Canadian equalizer. Anyone with enough money in their change purse to purchase a coffee has the chance to win a brand new vehicle or…..in most cases a free doughnut. It crosses all economic boundaries and demographics. We are being rewarded for being good customers.

There is a down side……..

The contest can only be played on disposable cups. Result? Contest = more people buying coffee = more cups in the garbage.

But….I have my own reusable cup…what happens then? During the contest, if you present your reusable cup at the coffee counter, they will graciously fill your cup, but will hand you a disposable cup as well, so that you can play the game.

Another scenario is sometimes near the end of the contest they run out of medium/large/extra large coffee cups with the game playing rollable rim. In this case, you are given your coffee in “normal” disposable cup AND given a game-playing cup in a different size.

It just seems wrong and there has to be a better way to run this contest…one that is less wasteful.

Is this a case where the marketed and branded “Roll up the Rim” contest is so recognizable that any deviation would frustrate and alienate the customer? I don’t think so. I think they could slowly introduce another option….another way for folks to play the game that creates less waste.

Are you listening Tim Hortons? Please don’t make me feel bad about drinking your coffee……I really like your coffee and I want to feel good about the choice I am making.

The contest is successful, the brand is established....now it is time to move forward - improve it by embracing a more sustainable strategy.

What do you think?

Update*** After posting a tweet about this blog post, I had a response from Brett Pickering (@BrettP65) who had this to say:

@judylaine this year you are able to play on the Tim hortons website. You can even play without purchasing anything online. They're trying.
— Brett Pickering (@BrettP65) February 12, 2013

Thank you for the information Brett. The link for the 2012 game can be found HERE

The will no doubt play a similar game for the 2013 campaign. They also have a few other cool social media links on their site HERE

Judy

Need a bit of VITAMIN GREEN in 2013?

I look forward to attending the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference every year! I hope to see you in Chicago where we will be Creating Sparks!

Pens In Space

We have all heard the “space pen” pseudo legend: a kind of/sort of/trueish story passed down for generations since the 1960’s when we began sending folks to the moon. A story that grew and changed over the years until it finally became an uber ridiculous example of some overachieving agency spending millions of dollars and countless hours developing a pen that writes in zero-gravity.

The question still remains: why not use a pencil?

Did the early astronauts need to sign legal documents while in space or was it simply a case of someone not seeing the forest for the trees? Was it an overwhelming urge to improve on something that didn’t really need improving?

Perhaps it was the “simple equals boring” theory.

Why do we insist on over-thinking? We spend a lot of time, resources and energy trying to determine whether or not the zebra has white stripes on a black background or black stripes on a white background. Why not just enjoy the zebra for the beauty that it is, and focus our energy somewhere more worthy?

In our zeal to constantly be improving, evolving and changing, we sometimes (often) miss the point.

Yup…..we could have used a pencil.

There is something strange happening in the green meeting industry, a pre-epidemic of sorts where reduce, reuse and recycle is being trumped by “redesign" (imagine rethink/repurpose injected with performance enhancing drugs).

Why?

The beauty of sustainability is that it needs little, if any, embellishment. It needs no bedazzling. It will always work in zero-gravity.

It requires commitment. It requires partnership. It requires communication. It requires education. It requires persistence. It doesn’t always require a label that says, “NEW and IMPROVED”.

How can we resist the urge to over-think?????......resist the urge to throw glue all over the project and glitter the crap out of it (metaphorically speaking of course….)

How can we resist the urge to “redesign” when “rethink” is the most appropriate R to use?

Here are some that I came up with – Keeping Sustainability Simple (KSS):

1. Communicate your skills and abilities early in the planning process – if you are aware of a strategy that is proven, if you have valuable knowledge to share that will help streamline a process – share it with your team. You can convince them that this time, the space pen is unnecessary.
2. Reduce – Ask yourself: Do you need it? Is it necessary? Can it be combined with something else? Can it be replaced with a product or service having less of an environmental footrprint?
3. Reuse – Can I use it again?
4. Recycle – What am I going to do with it when the event is over? Can it be recycled?
5. Repurpose – One example: Creating conference bags out of old vinyl signage
6. Every now and then….get back in the box – There has been so much emphasis on thinking outside of the box that honestly…..there is no one left in the box anymore. And do you know what? That is where we keep the pencils.......and they write just fine

Judy

Becoming a Magpie

Inspirations come from the strangest places: signs on the highway, songs on the radio, words spoken on a television program. 

Yesterday while watching Anderson Live, Alan Cumming (one of my fave actors who surprised me by speaking with a strong Scottish accent which just illustrates further how great he is on The Good Wife because you would never, ever know he was Scottish…..annnnnnnyway I am really digressing here). Alan Cumming was asked, “How do you choose the roles you play?” and he replied with, “I am like a Magpie” and he then went on to explain that he liked a variety of different roles. I didn’t even hear the last part of the interview because I was dashing around looking for a pen to write down the word “Magpie” and of course I couldn’t find a pen ANYWHERE so I texted the word to myself (because as a nomophobic I always have my phone within reach).

Why did I like the word so much? Why did the word “Magpie” resonate so deeply with me?

A Magpie is a black and white bird with a really long tail and where I live, they are EVERYWHERE. Not to be confused with a crow, which is all black and likes to tear apart your garbage and strew it all over the yard before the garbage truck arrives. No….a Magpie is different. Don’t get me wrong….no one seems to like the Magpie either. As I was googling the “Magpie” one article started with, “Magpies are the birds everyone loves to hate” and then calls them the “equivalent of a football hooligan”.

Magpies are opportunistic, tenacious: seemingly less comfortable in the air, choosing instead to forage for food while on the ground, scratching with their feet to determine if it is edible. They are smart and have a remarkable memory. Sources site that the European Magpie has a penchant for “shiny things” even jewelry, stealing items and storing them in their nest. The birds mate for life.

Ummm……sooooooo…..why would I want to be like a Magpie? (I actually had to stop and ask myself that, “Judy….why the hell do you want to be a Magpie? They seem like unethical bastards…..maybe you should choose a different bird or maybe even a fish…like a goldfish,  or even a guppy to emulate).

No, believe it or not, I can see some great qualities in the Magpie.

The magpie likes variety. It is adaptable. It is smart. It is fearless. It makes the most of each and every circumstance and situation.

My word for 2013 is VARIETY and learning to embrace my inner Magpie: be fearless; make smart choices and be adaptable when circumstances change.

Last year was horrible. Not only was it filled with sadness, disappointment and personal struggle, I constantly fought against my love of “variety” – feeling that I would have to give up my gypsy-like career path for something more stable. The consideration paralyzed me with fear.

Never again.

I will not apologize for my love of different,

My love of challenges,

My need to learn, 

My love of “try”.

2013 is the year.

That I learn to love myself

and……

embrace my inner Magpie.

Judy

The Accidentally Green Event

On Saturday night I attended the Small Business Christmas Party at a local Event Centre. It was a fun event: great food, great venue, great music and great company. The Small Business Christmas party was designed and planned so that a multiple of small businesses could enjoy a holiday staff party, do it as a group, and thereby create so many more advantages. A wonderful idea! It was also, in many ways, a sustainable event. I think that the organizers might be surprised to learn that by consolidating a number of small business parties into one larger event, they became “green(er) by accident”.

Green meeting and event planners are always looking for ways to tie events together, or combine events to minimize the environmental footprint. The Small Business Christmas Party was a perfect example of this sustainability strategy: a group of individuals choosing to have one larger gathering instead of many, smaller holiday parties. Why is that a better alternative? At a singular event, less fossil fuels are used, less energy is consumed and less waste is generated and placed in the landfills. Here are some examples:

·      Delivery companies make a single trip to one venue which cuts down on the use of fossil fuels

·      Only one venue is used on one night decreasing the amount of energy consumed (light and heat)

·      Food waste is minimized - every event can generate substantial food waste (folks who RSVP positively but then do not attend, incorrectly confirming plate numbers, food scrapings)

·      Paper waste is minimized – one party equals one invitation.

·      Less signage required

·      Floral centerpieces are generated only once, which minimizes waste and the use of fossil fuels to transport to different venues.

Congratulations! Good Job!

It doesn’t make it any less impactful if the sustainability strategies were unintentional. In fact…….many, many folks are sustainability specialists without even knowing it. Labeled as “frugal”, they are conscientious about their use of power and water. They creatively upcycled items before upcycling became trendy. They garden so that they have homegrown food throughout the year.

During the holiday season it can be difficult to be mindful of sustainability. Here are a few tips for a greener Christmas:

Minimize Food Waste: Be mindful when creating meat and cheese or veggie platters for guests because we tend to make them too large and the result is disposing of a lot of it at the end of the evening. Store your prepared meat, cheese and vegetables in zip lock bags in the refrigerator and replenish your “smaller” platters more often.

Locally Made Gifts: Craft sales have a bevy of locally created items to choose from to give as a gift at Christmas.

Support Local Business: By shopping locally we sustain our local businesses.

Recycle your old Christmas Cards: There are many uses for old Christmas cards: cut them down and use them for gift tags, slip them underneath a clear liner to create a pretty tabletop or….the list is endless.

Make a donation: There are many local organizations who rely on donations to operate. Do a little research, find out if they need money or if they have a wish list you can contribute towards.

Wishing you all a very merry, “greener” holiday season!