New Campaign From Unilever Project Sunlight Encourages Families To Create A More Sustainable Household

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Unilever is challenging families to create a brighter future while having fun together. Taking a cue from the optimistic outlook children have on the world, an interactive series of "Summer Sunlight Activities" and a new short film, "The Way Kids See It," are launching today to inspire families to create a brighter future by living more sustainably. These programs support Unilever Project Sunlight, a long-term initiative to make sustainable living commonplace.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please visit: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/7225651-unilever-project-sunlight-summer-activities-sustainable-household

To kick off the summer season, Unilever Project Sunlight is encouraging families to partake in simple and fun sustainable-living focused projects, Summer Sunlight Activities.  From greening the bathroom to finding fun, new uses for used shampoo bottles, these activities demonstrate the importance of small actions that together can add up to make a big impact.

"Teaching the next generation to live sustainably is essential to ensuring our children and our children's children thrive in a world with clean water and food on the table," said Sarah Michelle Gellar, Unilever Project Sunlight Ambassador, actress and mother. "Whether it's challenging their creativity to reimagine the use of a box, turning off the faucet while they brush their teeth or growing a summer garden, we can build a world where everyone lives well - if we all do our part."

The launch of the Summer Sunlight Activities series is the latest phase of Project Sunlight, an ongoing Unilever initiative that has seen millions of people pledge an 'act of sunlight': a promise to change their lifestyle to help preserve the planet for generations to come. The latest program launches with two activities, with additional ones rolling out throughout the summer: 

• Green Your Bathroom with its Own Recycling Bin – Nearly 40 percent of Americans toss plastic bottles from the bathroom in the trash, not realizing that along with cardboard product packaging and toilet paper spools, many bathroom toiletry bottles – including Dove® and Suave® shampoos and body washes – are recyclable.  We'll show you a fun DIY project to make bathroom recycling easier and more accessible.

• One Ingredient, Five Ways – Empower the kids of the household to plan a menu for the week by thinking up five meals with one main ingredient. Making the most of the food we eat – and teaching the entire family that ingredients can go a long way – gets the family thinking about ingredient-sourcing and food waste. Challenge your children to get creative with their menu planning – there are plenty of recipes to choose from on www.knorr.com or www.hellmanns.com for inspiration.

In addition to launching Summer Sunlight Activities, Unilever's new documentary short film, "The Way Kids See It," premieres in conjunction with International Family Day, and captures ideas and inspiration for creating a brighter future from children all over the world. Directed by Daniel Gordon, a BAFTA and British Independent Film Awards nominee, the film features children whose positive outlook inspired Project Sunlight, and highlights the hopes, dreams and plans that they have for a better world.

"Through 'The Way Kids See It,' we're really showcasing the inspiration that Unilever sees in the good that kids see in the world," said Jonathan Atwood, Vice President, Sustainable Living and Corporate Communications at Unilever, North America. "The film, paired with the Summer Sunlight Activities that families can do together to make their households more sustainable, are truly the embodiment of Unilever Project Sunlight, which supports our mission to create a brighter future. We're excited to see how these projects come to life this summer."

To take part in the Summer Sunlight Activities, there are three simple steps:

• Visit www.projectsunlight.us to SEE "The Way Kids See It" film and read about the different activities available as part of the Summer Sunlight Activities;
• ACT by choosing an activity to complete and, in doing so, take small, positive steps to a more sustainable lifestyle at home; and
• JOIN a like-minded community of individuals sharing their personal stories and tips to inspire others to take part using #brightfuture.

For further information, to view the documentary, and to take part in the Summer Sunlight Activities, people can visit www.projectsunlight.us or follow the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using #brightfuture.

About Project Sunlight
Project Sunlight is a long-term Unilever initiative to motivate millions of people to live more sustainably by inspiring them to build a brighter future for children. It aims to create a growing community of people who believe it is possible to build a world where everyone lives well and sustainably, without compromising the needs of future generations. In 2013, Project Sunlight helped create a brighter future for two million children in US, UK, Brazil, India and Indonesia. To date, it has also inspired over 70 million people worldwide to commit to living more sustainably by visiting www.projectsunlight.us and making an "act of sunlight" pledge. The Summer Sunlight Activities series represents the second phase of Project Sunlight in the US. It seeks to encourage US families to adopt new sustainable habits at home through a series of fun, green activities.

About Unilever United States, Inc.
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in more than 190 countries. Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. In the United States, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Fruttare, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Promise, Q–tips, Ragú, Simple, Slim–Fast, St. Ives, Suave, TIGI, TONI&GUY Hair Meet Wardrobe, TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well–being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals, we have defined seven pillars, underpinned by targets encompassing social, environmental and economic areas. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living.

Unilever employs approximately 10,000 people in the United States – generating nearly $9 billion in sales in 2013. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com.

Media Contacts:

Unilever
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 201.894.7760

Jennifer Parsons
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 212.546.8246

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please visit: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/7225651-unilever-project-sunlight-summer-activities-sustainable-household

SOURCE Unilever North America