How to Go Green!
The Body Shop 3 minute shower campaign bright green washing idea?
[Apr. 21]
Mall rats and lady diva shop-a-holics, get ready to plunk down some green cash spending money and dare to bare for 3 minutes or less. That’s right — the Body Shop, who call themselves, “the original ethical beauty brand”, announced its new eco-conscious range of Shower Gels for Earth Lovers and kicked off its Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge in 2011. The beauty boutique with a store presence in shopping malls all across the United States hopes the green marketing campaign will raise awareness about water conservation by challenging their eco-friendly consumers to take a shorter shower. And with star celebs like Jennifer Aniston already having opened the dialogue with the press about their 3 minute shower ritual activities to save the planet (inspiring countless green men across the planet to fantasize about her in eco friendly suds), why not? Talk about your positive spin on green washing!
The Body Shop offering a new line of luxury products that are better for the environment is a natural hook for the company. Why? Because while one would think that encouraging a patron to spend less time in a bath or shower would use less product, actually, it will encourage users to buy more conscientiously. You see, by pledging to take the Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge, the average person would save nearly 50 gallons of water with each shower or 18,000 gallons a year. That means less time in the shower but more money available to buy The Body Shop products with the proceeds from the water bill savings. Further, since a typical showerhead uses roughly 7 gallons of water per minute (Source: Michigan State Government Water Conservation Website), anyone using the products will have to strip bare, hop in the shower, lather up fast, and get busy rinsing. That means folks are more likely to over-utilize a bit of shower gel product in the rush rather than lounging in a bath tub using only a tiny bit of bubble bath to keep themselves entertained while bathing.
There are more reasons than green washing for specialty boutiques to embrace the green trend in product selling. A recent national survey conducted by The Body Shop reveals some stark findings about water and water conservation. Did you know that the average person uses 70 gallons of water in their 10-minute shower? “That’s 1,120 8 oz bottles of water, people…” say the company — probably half of which Jennifer Aniston herself sent to the landfill thanks to her Smart Water campaigning. As such, conserving water — and being mindful to remind shoppers that their buying power matters — is one small way to help the planet while still making money. Products bottled in eco-friendly packaging made from recycled materials seems to be key to green marketing, along with things like keeping products all natural, organic, and bio-friendly. [Think about needing to produce products that help plants in yards when home owners install gray water lawn sprinkler systems to reduce waste water.]
Regarding the new green marketing campaign, the Body Shop reps say:
The Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge urges consumers to cut down their shower time to three minutes, thereby drastically reducing their environmental footprint. The campaign coincides with the launch of The Body Shop Shower Gels for Earth Lovers, a 100% biodegradable shower gel range infused with a blend of herb and fruit extracts and containing Community Fair Trade organic aloe vera from Guatemala. Through this exciting new initiative, The Body Shop promotes a more environmentally sensitive shower experience.
Everyone is encouraged to pledge to take The Body Shop Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge by tweeting @thebodyshopusa or visiting The Body Shop USA Facebook page.
“We know that taking a shower in just three minutes sounds challenging, but our goal in launching this campaign is to start a discussion. Even if three minutes seems unlikely, why not try and reduce your daily shower by three minutes – you can save up to 21 gallons of water per shower! For those who are up to the challenge, one fun approach is to lather, rinse and repeat to your favorite three-minute tune. The challenge is making sure you’re all rinsed off before the song ends. Ultimately, we want everyone to play their part in water conservation and these are some easy ways to make a difference,” stated Shelley Simmons, Director of Brand Communications and Values, The Body Shop. “At The Body Shop we strive to protect our planet and encourage our consumers to do the same.”
The Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge officially launches on April 21, 2011 at Columbia University with green celebrity hosts Amy Smart (Shameless, Just Friends ) and Tika Sumpter (Gossip Girl). It is too bad they did not get actress Jenifer Aniston to do their commercials and give her celebrity endorsement.
FAST FACTS
Consumer Shower Habits Revealed
- 34% of consumers polled think that a 10-minute long shower wastes only 10 gallons of water
- 67% of consumers polled admit to spending a maximum of 10 minutes in the shower
- 44% of consumers polled would be willing to cut their shower times by 1-4 minutes
- 53% of consumers polled believe that they could get clean in a three-minute shower