Brand contest to help Vancouver become “zero waste” city starts this week

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Making life more sustainable is the goal of a two-day virtual contest kicking off this week in Vancouver.

Brands for Better founder and President Karla Peckett says starting Wednesday, 20 locally-based companies will compete in the first-ever “Brand Battle for Good.”

“We’ve had great interest,” she said. “Some of the big names are brands like Lush, Deloitte, Hootsuite, Sole — a bunch of great brands coming out to battle.”

Peckett is also the creative director at SOLE/ReCORK, a planet-first footwear company based in Vancouver.

The companies are working to find innovative ways to get Vancouverites to think about becoming “zero waste.” The winning idea will be announced May 5, with hope it can be implemented within the next eight months.

“The prizes up for grabs is (more than) $50,000 in an in-kind digital marketing package for the winning team to be able to really launch and create awareness on their idea,” Peckett said.

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She says Vancouver is a great place to start because the city has previously-set targets to tackle climate change.

“The City of Vancouver has already kind of shared their long-term strategic vision of going zero waste by 2040, so we think it’s a great place to start in Vancouver. Leading with the brands that live and work here and to see how we can support the City of Vancouver in their efforts,” Peckett said.

The first day of the conference on April 28 features more than 40 volunteer workshop hosts and educational speakers from zero waste initiatives aimed at motivating participants.

The focus of Day 2 on May 5th is what’s called a Strategy Hack-A-Thon for Good. That all-day session includes a dedicated facilitator guiding every team get to a point when they can present a final solution.

Peckett tells NEWS 1130 the winning idea is expected to be creative, original and “will primarily be chosen based on impact, accessibility, feasibility and degree of behavioural change. This is not an advertising contest. We want to see real impact.”

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The top three ideas will be revealed at a virtual event, the Brand Battle for Good Award Night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (PDT) on May 5. The event’s emcee is Zain Meghi with live music by The Long War.

Registration for the livestream is available online at brandsforbetter.ca.

The Brands for Better Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Vancouver.