We are partners with RAW Bottles, helping to create a world free from pointless plastic and waste – one reusable bottle at a time.
Raw Bottles is the sister organisation to RAW Foundation, a UK Sustainable Development Charity committed to raising awareness and campaigning against pointless plastic.
With Kambe, RAW Bottles was co-founded by inspirational campaigner Melinda Watson, founder of RAW Foundation, and Ed Gillespie, founder of global sustainability consultancy and creative change agency Futerra.
The Brief
RAW Bottles was born out of a deep concern about single-use pointless plastic waste in the festival and event industry and on a wider global scale. It is an inconvenient truth that of all the plastic waste ever discarded since the 1950s, only 9% has been recycled. This, along with the fact that rising plastic production will skyrocket to at least 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, compelled us to take a stand on this catastrophic environmental issue.
We wanted to effectively communicate the plastic problem to help create a world free from pointless plastic and waste. Our message needed to be systems-focused, and importantly solution-oriented and change-driven. Accepting the recycling norm as a solution was simply not an option for us. We wanted to provide practical advice to help festival and event organisers and festival goers to reduce their plastic consumption and inspire action.
We strive for clean oceans and thriving ecosystems able to support generations of life to come.
The Process
Since 2014, Kambe has partnered with RAW Foundation to effectively communicate the issue with marine litter installations, film screenings and workshop spaces at Shambala.
Committed to inspiring people with practical action, key components included the provision of reusable stainless steel bottles, the Bring-a-Bottle Campaign and collaboration on a Plastic-Free Festival and Events Guide for festival organisers and festival goers.
Kambe and RAW Foundation partnered with the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) in 2018 to encourage festivals to commit to go plastic free. The ‘Drastic On Plastic’ Campaign Action Pack included a comprehensive Plastic-Free Festivals and Events Guide (second edition) , a Plastic-Free Festivalgoers Guide, a Festivalgoer Action Plan and a Reusable Bar Cups Guide.
In tandem, RAW Bottles was officially launched to provide high quality reusable stainless steel bottles wholesale for companies taking action for a better world. Sale of the bottles support RAW Foundation’s established campaign work on plastic. They are fully brandable, durable, award-winning, lightweight and BPA free.
The Result
Kambe’s flagship Shambala has been ‘single-use’ plastic free for the last four years. This journey has been documented as case studies in Raw Foundations Plastic-Free Guides, freely available to festival organisers. There has subsequently been an immensely positive uptake with over 60 AIF festivals pledging to eliminate single-use plastic at their events by 2021.
As the official reusable bottle supplier for Glastonbury, RAW Bottles have already provided reusable bottles for a growing portfolio of events and institutions such as City Councils, Universities, Sports Clubs, Refill and City to Sea amongst others – helping to rid the world of over 6.5 million* pointless plastic bottles to date.
The core message in the bottle remains ‘re-use not single-use’ to inspire positive long-term behaviour change and reduce single-use plastic for generations to come.
*Research suggests that every re-usable bottle prevents at least 162 single-use plastic bottles per year/per person on average.
