Every fill makes a difference!
Team Suez’ story and the Mainstream concept in brief:
General attitudes toward environmental issues are changing, and people are a lot more aware of the state our planet is in. Market is full of sustainable products and services, and the time is definitely ripe for the Mainstream concept. But from the user perspective, acting responsibly often requires extra effort, and unfortunately the barrier is too high for most of the people to engage in tangible actions. Mainstream will lower that barrier and make it easy and convenient for the people to do their part in saving the planet.
The briefing that our cross-disciplinary and international team received almost ten months ago from our company sponsor Suez Environnement stated that we had to create a new generation of green services in the area of water or waste management. They wanted us to focus on the actual end users, and bringing the Suez brand closer to them. We were addressed to emphasize usability instead of technology, and the final solution should be operated in a city environment. With the Mainstream concept we have been able to combine both water and waste management in a way that engages the end-users and creates a network among the city-dwellers and the Suez company.
The environmental stress created by the bottle water industry is evident. It consumes massive amounts of oil, produces extensive amounts of carbon dioxide emissions and of course plastic bottle waste. The production and delivery of one liter of bottled water releases hundreds of times more emissions than that of tap water. In addition to solving this global problem, we wanted to emphasize the user perspective also. Immersing ourselves in user research has revealed that most of them do realize the environmental crisis and want to do their part. Still, for the majority it is just pushing the “Like-button” in Facebook, and not actually doing something real. Mainstream will change that.
The Mainstream concept consists of a network of intelligent Mainstream fountains, which are located around the city in public traffic junctions, universities and offices to mention but a few. The user buys the Mainstream stainless steel bottle from the store instead of the plastic ones. That bottle can be filled from the Mainstream fountains, which recognize the bottle and its user via RFID technology, which also allows for electronic billing. In addition, it enables the users to get instant feedback about the environmental and economical impacts of their actions. That positive impact can be magnified with voluntary donation programs, which help make the difference on the societal level. In a nutshell, Mainstream offers the users an innovative, easy and sustainable way of hydrating themselves. But most of all, it encourages them to do the right thing and feel good about themselves.
However, the power of the Mainstream concept is not in the RFID technology, the intuitive web interface or intelligent network of dispensers. The true power is within the people, in the community utilizing Mainstream as a part of their daily lives. Numerous tiny streams eventually build up to a river, which can scour it’s bed even through the roughest terrain. In the same way the small actions of each user can really make a difference when summed up. The Mainstream concept facilitates that process.
Let’s do our part, and remember:
Every fill makes a difference!
