Unilever Australia, maker of household staples including Omo, Rexona, TRESemmé, Dove, Hellmann’s and Streets ice creams, has joined forces with Clean Up Australia, Cool.org and Coles to supply free Clean Up Kits and online educational resources to schools across the nation.
With 44% of young Australians rating the environment as their most pressing concern[i], schools are increasingly looking at how they can equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to address the complex challenges of our world.
To help support this, Unilever is donating $150,000 to Clean Up Australia which is being used to update five lesson plans on Cool.org – an online platform which supports Australian teachers bring the real-world into the classroom through curriculum-aligned resources. The updated lesson plans cover key topics including how litter affects nature; what a circular economy is; the Australasian Recycling Label; and how to dispose of waste correctly. The donation will also be used to supply up to 1,000 free Clean Up Kits to schools across the country.
Unilever Australia and New Zealand, Head of Country, Nick Bangs said, “From pristine beaches to lush rainforests, Australia has some of the most beautiful landscapes, and we want to keep it that way.
“We’re taking actions across our business to reduce our environmental impact – from redesigning our packaging to use less plastic and using renewable energy to reduce our emissions. But we can’t do it alone and educating our future generation about protecting and conserving the environment will be essential to galvanising a more sustainable future for us all. We’re really proud to be working with Coles, Clean Up Australia and Cool.org on this.”
Cool.org CEO, Thea Stinear said, “Sustainability education is a vital component of the Australian school curriculum. Through our lesson plans we aim to make it easier for teachers by equipping them with the knowledge and resources they need to inspire their students. With Unilever’s support, we estimate we’ll reach around 30,000 students[ii]”.
Unilever’s donation is made possible thanks to Coles shoppers. Between the 1st and 28th May 2024, whenever shoppers buy one of Unilever’s participating products[iii] at Coles supermarkets or online, 10 cents from each purchase will go towards the total $150,000 donation.
This is the fifth consecutive year the initiative has run and with the help of Australians, Unilever has donated over $400,000 to Clean Up Australia which has helped supply more than 6,000 free Clean Up Kits.
Clean Up Australia CEO, Jenny Geddes. “At Clean Up Australia we often talk about the small steps individuals can take to help improve the environment. With this wonderful campaign, it’s a matter of small 10 cent donations adding up to something big and impactful. This donation is critical to the work we do. It will both help us to educate our future generation on sustainability practices and enable Australians to continue to get out and take positive, practical Clean Up action to improve our environment any day of the year.
To mark World Environment Day on 5 June, Unilever and Coles are encouraging teachers to register for a free Kit and organise a Clean Up to go into the running to win one of three $1,000 Coles gift vouchers. Teachers can register for a Clean Up Kit here.
Coles General Manager of Sustainability Brooke Donnelly concluded, “By joining forces with Unilever on this important campaign, we’re providing a simple way for our customers to get involved in raising much-needed funds for Clean Up Australia and help to create a more sustainable future.”
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition and Ice Cream products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 127,000 employees and generated sales of €59.6 billion in 2023. Unilever Australia and New Zealand is a Certified B Corporation – part of a global movement of businesses that aim to lead systems change to support an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy for all. For more information about Unilever and our brands, please visit: https://www.unilever.com.au/
About Clean Up Australia
Over the last three decades Clean Up Australia Day has grown into the nation’s largest community-based environmental event, with over 21 million Aussies joining in the charity’s activities over the years. Now one of the country’s most recognised and trusted environmental organisations, Clean Up Australia focuses as much on preventing litter entering our environment as it does on removing what has already accumulated and advocates for solutions that move us towards a circular economy.
About Coles
Coles is an omnichannel retailer selling products including fresh food, groceries and liquor through its supermarkets, liquor stores and eCommerce platforms. We employ more than 120,000 team members, engage with more than 8,000 suppliers, have more than 430,000 direct shareholders and we welcome millions of customers through our extensive store network and eCommerce platforms every week.
About Cool.org
Cool.org is an online platform supporting 175,000 Australian teachers to educate Australia’s youth and create better outcomes for humanity. Our platform provides curriculum-aligned lesson plans, units of work and professional learning to equip educators with resources to teach Australia’s future generations about significant real-world topics.
[i] New report confirms biggest concerns for young people in Australia
[ii] Independent research by Lonergan research found that for every individual teacher who downloads a Cool lesson, 133 students are reached.
[iii] The participating products include TRESemmé, Vaseline, Lynx, Rexona, Dove, Omo, Comfort, Blue Ribbon, and Hellmann’s.
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