‘Better with Carton’, Tetra Pak’s Initiative for Sustainable Future  Product Packaging

Tetra Pak, a world leading food and beverage processing and packaging company, has launched an initiative tagged: better with carton’ in

2023. With its ‘protects what’s good’ slogan, Precious Ugwuzor writes that it  represents an intellectual and ecological paradigm shift, proactively enlightening  children and other stakeholders on the intrinsic ecological advantages of carton packaging 

Children are tomorrow leaders and so need to be aware of the environment in all the efforts at creating a better, safer and more healthy world. Children during growth periods, experience or encounter environmental chemicals which may affect their normal development. 

By learning more about these chemicals and developments, children can help  reduce their chances of poor health while improving their growth and quality of life. 

Educating children about the environment allows them to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment.

 When children are encouraged to research, investigate how and why things happen, and form their own opinions on issues concerning the environment, we are helping them to promote critical and creative thinking skills and inspire them to become more engaged with their communities and  understand why the environment is important, while also providing them with the building blocks they need to live eco-friendly and sustainable lives.

Tetra Pak, a world leading food and beverage processing and packaging company with prominence in the West African subregion in 2023 launched an initiative tagged: better with carton’ in

2023. The campaign was aimed at highlighting the many advantages of carton packed beverages and educating the millions of consumers across Nigeria and West Africa on the many ways carton packaging makes their lives better.

Featuring several activities namely: trade activation, customer activation, and media publicity the campaign drew to a close with the school activation programme/advocacy.

Designed to reach over 4500 pupils in select schools across Lagos State, the programme featured: Talks on the Better with Carton messaging, distribution of sketch books and coloring materials, Better with Carton pledge and commitment wall signing by children as well as presentation of furniture including desks and chairs to the selected schools.

The desks and chairs were made from used beverage cartons and will serve as a reminder to the kids to protect the environment by turning their waste into new useful products.

The Tetra Pak team who visited the schools brought a message of hope and faith in the future from the company’s managing director, Mr. Oshiokamele Aruna who highlighted Tetra Pak’s commitment to championing the continuous need for safe food packaging for many years which made safety and health some of its guiding principles of the company. 

Adding that, Tetra Pak slogan ‘protects what’s good and as explained in our “Better with Carton” campaign represents an intellectual and ecological paradigm shift, proactively enlightening the children and other stakeholders on the intrinsic ecological advantages of carton packaging. 

The initiative also underscores Tetra Pak’s commitment to promoting conscientious consumer choices by advocating for the selection of carton-packaged products, and the responsible management of used cartons, among other pivotal objectives.

The company’s Marketing Manager, Mrs. Lara Ikemefuna disclosed that the success of the trade market activations, was the launch pad to educate and sensitize the younger generation about food safety and the environment. She declared: “Using our ‘better with carton’ initiative as our launch pad, we are extending the sustainability knowledge to children who are the hope of the future so that they can start early to know and be engaged on why carton are better in product packaging when compared to others.”

Better-with-Carton is not primarily about Tetra Pak products. The firm is creating awareness, peeping into the future when products packaging are environmentally friendly. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure holds true, young people and responsible organizations such as Tetra Pak are joining hands to help save our universe and the unborn generations through preventive measures.

According to the company’s Head, Communication, West Africa, Ms Stella Ondimu the aim of the campaign is to motivate  children to take decisive action to help  the environment in a sustainable manner. 

“Our health, food safety and the planet are critical consideration for sustainability, we need to mobilize the great strengths of children to understand this and patronize goods and products packaged in cartons as the veritable option for food safety and environmental sustainability.”

“Carton has won the hearts of many and certified as one of the most sustainable solutions because it is bio-based, recyclable, and reusable. It can be used to make new paper products within a cycle, children need to understand this,” she highlighted.