Unilever and Choithrams Educate Consumers on World Environment Day

Driving awareness of recycling and water conservation 

June 10th, 2014, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Unilever, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies, has been helping consumers make better choices for over 100 years. 2014 marks Unilever’s 3rd successive year of partnership with Choithrams, one of the UAE’s largest retailers, to further promote recycling, waste management and water conservation.

The campaign which is running over the coming 10 days, provides consumers with recycling and water conservation tips that will help them in taking small actions that collectively add up to making a bigger difference in contributing to increased environmental sustainability. 

Additionally, during the campaign a total of 30,000 green bags will be distributed to shoppers at Choithrams 19 main branches across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 
This joint initiative of Unilever and Choitrams falls under the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan which commits Unilever to doubling its business while halving its environmental footprint. 

Given that a large part of Unilever’s environmental footprint is resultant due to consumer’s actions at the stage of product use and disposal, Arijit Ghose, Managing Director Unilever Gulf states, “If you look at the value chain of any of our products, only 5% of the environmental footprint is under our direct impact and 68% of it comes from the consumer. Hence, through this initiative we aim to change behaviour and encourage good practices of waste management and water conservation.” 

Referring to Unilever’s collaborative effort in working towards spreading an increased awareness of sustainability, Ghose continues, “Therefore, partnering with different entities that are also active in creating a more sustainable community, such as Choithrams, will help us in overcoming the  challenge of bringing out behaviour change with our consumers, while also helping broaden our relationship with our customers at the same time.”

L T Pagarani, Chairman Choithrams says, “‘Inspired by such  mindful partners as Unilever, in March we launched an omnibus sustainability heartland named Planet 7 based on 7 key pillars - Health, Nature, Carbon, Innovation, Community, Employment & Dialogue. It’s the right time, the right way and inescapable truth that we believe in.”

Choithrams has strong sustainability initiatives which aim to reduce unnecessary packaging, while increasing the use of energy efficient equipment in refrigeration and lighting. Their sourcing team constantly pursue local and regional options to reduce their carbon footprint. Also, the Choithrams Hospital and Research Centre located in Central India has installed a water recycling unit which is helping save more than 3,000,000 litres of potable water every year.

Choithrams latest project is at their UK production facility where plans are underway to install wind turbines and solar panels to produce electricity for the plant.
This joint initiative has reached 110,000 households to-date.