Spinneys goes all out for Earth Day

Spinneys just celebrated Earth Day in a big way. They just unleashed their eco-friendly reusable bags with - what I assume is 3D animation - of a sea turtle delivering the goods. Interestingly, Spinneys has many other initiatives - they partner with ACT for zero-waste policy donating some 500 tons of left-over vegetables, fruits and bakery items, they have a FabricAid container in every branch, and their Jbeil branch runs on solar power. Oh and actually, in 2010 when I needed to move, I went to the roof of the Spinneys branch in Achrafieh and got myself as many boxes as I needed to place my stuff in them.

On all accounts, here's an anecdote: Long time ago Spinneys offered tote bags to people so as for them to reuse them for their purchases. A friend of mine would go to Spinneys and invariably would forget the tote at home so she would place her merchandise in plastic bags. So here's hoping people will be more vigilant in the use of eco-friendly bags this time around!

ecom48 - sustainable luxury for the well-to-do

For some odd reason I was targeted with an ad for ecom48. Perhaps they knew I was an environmentalist even before the word. Interesting considering I was speaking about the environment long before it became a trend to do so (my first conference dates back to 1995!). Still, ecom48 promises to be an ecosystem all to its own. Heck, it even promises a free 2023 electric Wolkswagen for every villa (that's 48 villas as the name implies and eco is for ecology and m for "mustaqbal" or future in Arabic - in case you want to dissect the name).

I think there is a mistake in the website - on the free VW section the title reads "this is the heading" which presumably should have been something else. The villas however offer the usual amalgam of eco options - composting cans, solar panels, biophilic design, solar water heaters, charging stations (yes, for the VW!), an organic garden, waste water recycling, ... Yet oddly it also offers a shooting range and a private pool for every villa? Which I believe are a bit against the concept.

Do note that the villas are not for your average "Dwell" magazine reader (which I am) - in case you do not know, Dwell is focused on all those microhousing, off-the-grid places or completely reusing materials kind of projects (turning a shed into a mixed housing or such projects for example).

 So who is the target audience for such villas? Well-to-do families wishing to invest their hoarded Dollars into a new real estate. The villas are located in Ouyoun Broumana and are supposed to be part of a gated community. Again, not your run-of-the-mill eco housing, but am sure it is targeted to a specific audience.

Pepsi - 1 Liter returnable

Believe it or not, at one point the 1 Liter Pepsi bottle was reserved for Sunday lunches,  birthdays and special occasions. Of course, Pepsi is now ubiquitous in any meal, but still, in a 50s ad, Pepsi was supposed to be a post-Iftar digestive drink (see here). Which brings us to - the 1 Liter Pepsi "chraba redda" (returnable glass bottle) is now back in the markets (side precision: I have not seen it anywhere but this does not negate it might be present). Does this signal a shift in consumption especially with the plastic 2,25 Liter Pepsi bottle skyrocketing in price (by the latest count it is 7500 Liras up from 2250). Is this an eco-friendly move? I am assuming such bottles are more the turf of small shops rather than large supermarkets however. Still, all of these are assumptions considering I still have to see it in shops. But hey, if Pepsi trucks have such an ad on their back, who am I to argue?