Reckitt Benckiser launches major carbon initiative

Household goods company Reckitt Benckiser is launching a global initiative aimed at helping consumers to cut the carbon footprint of the products they use. The Our Home Our Planet drive will launch in Europe this month.

The company will have on-pack information on how to use and dispose of products, such as Finish, Dettol, Calgon, Vanish and Harpic.

A “green panel” will offer tips, which the company says aim to help consumers understand how best to use and dispose of its products, without sacrificing performance. There will be a number of in-store promotions related to the initiative, which RB says will form a “major plank” of its 2009 activity.

The campaign comes after research by the company showed that a bulk of the carbon contribution of RB products occurred once they had been purchased, as a result of how they are used and disposed of.

The Our Home Our Planet campaign launches in Germany and France this month and will then extend across other European countries, reaching the UK in April. North American and developing markets such as Asia and Brazil, will be included in the global push before the end of 2009.

It will adapt existing TV advertising for products to incorporate the Our Home Our Planet strategy, which uses the strapline Greener Ways to Clean and Save. The company is also launching a website that will offer practical advice about how to use its products in a more environmentally friendly way.

As part of its the strategy, RB is supporting and promoting the World Land Trust and its international conservation work.