Urban Solutions #12: These Come From Trees
You may know from my endorsement of the folks at Graffiti Research Lab and my friend, Steve Lambert’s Anti-Advertising Agency, that the notion of taking ideas directly to the streets without stopping to request permission or the guidance of a coked-out ad executive appeal to me strongly.
Given this predilection for admiring such efforts, the new project “THESE COME FROM TREES” meets with my rapt adoration. The stickers available (pictured) at the project website are intended to be placed on paper towel dispensers in a public restroom near you. As their studies show that 100 pounds of paper product are saved by reminding people of the obvious connection between paper products and the world’s most beautiful creatures (damn, I’m sounding a bit like a hippie, aren’t I? must be the amaranth cereal. time to switch back to lucky charms), this little sticker gets my thumbs up as a new item to add to one’s urban guerilla tool kit.
You do have such a kit, no? I stock mine with SUV parking tickets, caltrops, handcuffs, a pair of 9mms, a video camera, night vision goggles and a copy of ‘Plan B 2.0′. Thankfully, the design team over at ENTERMODAL is working on a custom bag for me so I can finally stop wearing my fanny pack (it’s not the day-glo orange that bothers me, it’s the fact that it makes my ass look huge).
Today’s song, “Fruit Tree” by Nick Drake goes out to Jonathan and Drew, who should appreciate the lyrics:Â Â .
Edit: After finishing this post, I discover that Jeff over at the perfectly perfect Sustainablog has posted on this same topic just yesterday. No, Jeff, I’m NOT stealing your material!
Tags: Plan B, Ruminations
I love this idea for guerilla marketing and am going to order some off the website and post about in on LAist. It’s such a simple thing, but really a simple reminder sometimes is all that people need in the moment to be more conservation and think like a conservationist. Thanks Tod!
Hey guys!
Thanks for the shoutout. This sort of project is very much influenced by the idea that public spaces, even if they’re privately owned, sometimes don’t own their own visual identity, and that sometimes you need help with that…like with this sticker.
For example, most coffee shop owners don’t have a choice of what paper towel dispenser to get. There’s like four offered by their bathroom goods distributor, and that’s it. And it’s not like they can go off and make a new one–they’re selling coffee!
So the idea here is that it’s a win-win-win, good for the bathroom owner, good for the towel-user (who gets to effortlessly help the environment), and good for the sticker-placer, who gets to spread his message, helpfully.
It’s a different kind of graffiti, not tagging, but engaging and thought provoking, like Banksy.
Anyway, thanks for the shoutout guys!
Pete said, “like Banksy.” Ah, how swift the rise of this cultural icon. “Like Banksy” is the new “Like Mike” and I, for one, am damned happy about this.
This is a great project, period. Thanks for putting it together, Pete!
I just placed an order for 100 “These come from trees” stickers. I need to paste one on my printer since I use way too much paper printing articles so I can read them while lying down at night. At least I use both sides, so I feel slightly less guilty.
Gail
Gail! That’s such a good idea! Someone at work the other day was saying that we should put them near the “copy” button on copiers, too.
I’m going to blog your comment!
Pete
Ah, putting two good people together. THAT is what blogs are all about. Pete - Gail. Gail - Pete.
[...] October 25th, 2007 admin Posted in Events & Happenings | Gail comments over on Tod Brilliant’s blog about how she is going to use a “These Come From Trees” sticker on her printer to help her think for a second about how important her print job is before she prints it. [...]