Just where is your rubbish ending up?
In order to reduce the amount of litter around McDonald’s restaurants, McDonald’s decided to put the problem in the hands of the consumer. Rather than the usual paper insert in their trays, various environmental scenes were printed on the paper. This showed consumers, quite literally what their rubbish would look like if it were to be thrown away in the wild. It showed immediately how rubbish can ruin natural environments and how easy it is to throw it away.
This simple, powerful idea allows consumers to collaborate with McDonald’s to improve their surroundings and reduce waste. It pays to remember that many products can be more harmful in the hands of the consumer than in the hands of the producer.
Impact:
McDonald’s was faced with the task of reducing litter around their restaurants and also complaints from residents in the surrounding areas. By showing consumers the consequences of their actions in this way, litter around the restaurants was reduced considerably, and complaints from local residents about litter dropped by 25%.
