This sticker on a paper towel dispenser in a cafe in San Francisco’s Mission reminds the wet-handed that they’re about to use a product made from trees (and therefore they should be considerate). The stickers seem to be part of a “guerrilla public service announcement” orchestrated by Pete Kazanjy, the guy behind TheseComeFromTrees.com. Kazanjy says that a single “These Come From Trees” sticker can save around a tree’s worth of paper, every year (100 pounds)
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Why would the sticker talk about saving 100 pounds of paper rather than one tree? Does the average environmentalist imagine a utopia in which they’re surrounded by lush, natural STACKS OF UNUSED PAPER?
July 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am
It is always a shocker to me being abroad. Especially on my recent trip to Brazil. to see how frugal the culture is with paper towels, napkins, and TP. You literally need to be at a multi-cour$e dinner to get a napkin that isn’t a tiny piece of wax paper. Here in the states, every custi at McDonalds grabs half a newspaper worth of napking with each meal. Uugh
July 1st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
@Byrne:
Because there are three audiences for the sticker:
1. The average paper towel user.
2. The environmentalist paper towel user.
3. The business owner / staff on whose paper towel dispenser this may end up.
As such, the message is tweaked for each audience:
1. “These Come From Trees. Think twice about how many you need, please.”
2. “Look, these help save trees. A lot (100lbs is a lot of tree!) Maybe you can get your own and spread the word.”
3. “Look, these help save paper, which saves you money. 100 lbs is a lot of paper and a lot of cash!”
#2, the environmentalist is going to do the most mental work to get it. #3 has to be convinced not to tear down the sticker or #1 and #2 never see the sticker…
That’s why 100 lbs instead of “Saves a tree’s worth of paper a year.”
Clearly #3 is less important in the case where the sticker is put up by the business owner…but in the case where someone has posted it without permission, we want to start the relationship with the business owner right by showing them that it’s a win for them.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:47 pm