February 15, 2020 - Violeta, a Bosnian brand of toilet paper and similar products, announced that they'll offer to their Croatian consumers the same product they already know in very innovative packaging.
In Croatia, and you're absolutely forgiven if you don't know this unimportant factoid, most of the TP used is imported. I thought that nobody produced it, as when there was a lot of joking around at the Narodne Novine expense (the Official Gazette of Croatia company who tried and failed miserably at producing and distributing it, losing almost 10 million taxpayers' euros in the process) it was said that it would become the only toilet paper made in Croatia. Now a brief Google search introduced me to the Ola'la brand of the toilet paper and similar products, which I've never personally seen in stores, but apparently they exist.
In the absence of Croatian products, we buy imported, be it the traditional Slovenian stuff from Paloma, some international global producers, or in recent years increasingly, an import from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Violeta brand. The company is headquartered in Grude, owned by Petar Ćorluka, employs more than 900 workers and produces more than 200 hygienic products. It is one of the biggest companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one of the biggest exporters. They're very present on the Croatian market, and recently they've announced the innovative packaging for their product (their announcement specifically mentions Croatia, although I personally don't understand why they wouldn't put it on other markets too).
It's still going to be their toilet paper. However, the packaging of the paper will be such to facilitate the use of the plastic bag as a - trash bag. I mean, we all did it at least once, it's quite a large bag, no reason why you shouldn't use it to put some garbage in there - except, there is a reason, and that reason is that once the TP bag is opened, there's no way to close it again to prevent from the garbage falling out. Now Violeta has solved that: their new packaging will include a tie, which will allow the users to simply tie the bag once it's full of garbage!
It's not a major change, neither for the company nor for the environment. However, in order to reduce waste we need to work together, the companies that produce products and the consumers. If the companies don't think about this problem, then the consumers can't show they care and buy products which reduce waste. And if such products exist, the consumers can buy them and entice other companies to consider reducing the amount of packaging.
The idea of the project 'Dual purpose for a higher purpose' was by a Croatian marketing agency Saatchi&Saachi. They've also decided to use the packaging itself as a key communication channel, instead of the usual communication campaign.
And with the current problems with recycling in Zagreb, the Violeta company probably couldn't have chosen a better time for this product!
