Smart Rimi shopping bags have already planted more than 300 trees

In cooperation with Pasaules Dabas Fonds (associated partner of "World Wildlife Foundation" in Baltic) and the start-up goodbag, in May Rimi Baltic launched a unique, innovative pilot project, nudging shopping habits of using reusable bags. The project is launched in Rimi stores in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia with the introduction of smart cloth shopping bags that reward sustainable choices by shoppers. Every time visiting the shop, this bag collects 100 seeds on the special goodbag app, which shoppers can donate for the planting of diverse forest ecosystems.?By now customers have donated more than 300 trees to be planted in the Baltic region. Activity will continue until the end of August and tree planting will happen in Autumn.

The use of cloth shopping bags has become a feature of shoppers' daily lives: 42% or almost every second Rimi shopper in the Baltics at self-service checkouts prefer reusable cloth bags, thus making an environmentally friendly choice every time they shop.??

In searching for new ways in which to take a step towards nurturing sustainable shopping habits, Rimi is offering its shoppers specially designed smart cloth shopping bags, which not only reduce the volume of plastic waste but also directly support the creation of future forests. The smart bag contains an NFC scanner or “tag”, which shoppers can scan on the goodbag app every time they visit to store, thus topping up their collection of tree seeds, which will turn into a tree plantation, creating a diverse forest ecosystem. The goodbag app is available for free at Google Play and App Store stores. The special shopping bags will be available to shoppers in limited quantities during the pilot project.?

“Every day Rimi shoppers make considered and healthy choices while saving money, reducing food and household waste and caring for the environment. In the smart bag pilot project, we are seeking an efficient way how to combine our experience as a retailer with the capabilities of innovative technologies and expertise in environmental matters so that every shopper can not only improve their everyday life but also consolidate local biological diversity. The smart shopping bags are adorned with the slogan “Think Outside the Bag”. With this pilot project, we want to emphasize that the consequences of our everyday actions or choices can trigger significant changes on a much broader scale. In this case, responsible visits to a store are worth a whole tree,” explains Zanda Sadre , Corporate Responsibility and Communications Director at Rimi Baltic.?

The pilot project partner in Lithuania is the organisation "Lietuvus gamtos fondas", in Estonia – the organisation "Eesti ?kokogukondade ühendus" and in Latvia "Pasaules Dabas fonds". Organisations will take care of the practical part of the project – planting and looking after trees.?

Jānis Rozītis, director of the Pasaules Dabas Fonds (associated partner to WWF) and head of the forest program stresses, “We are confident that in this Rimi pilot project, we will achieve a tangible result that will help to make nature in the Baltic even richer. For the best result, the active involvement of shoppers is very important, which we will assess at the end of this summer. In this project, it is simple to make an environmentally friendly choice and that does not require a major investment, but its objective is very practical – to form a new area of forest. We are planning to plant the first oak, lime, spruce, black alder and birch saplings this autumn.”??

The smart and sustainable bag pilot project is the brainchild of the Austrian start-up goodbag. In the 2023 Rimi retail hackathon, in a competition between 52 start-ups from 15 countries, their idea received funding for the implementation of a pilot project. The goodbag start-up already has experience implementing similar pilot projects within Austrian and Portuguese retail networks, but this cooperation with Rimi is this goodbag's first experience of the Baltic market.?

The Rimi retail hackathon is part of Rimi's open innovation platform with funding for EUR 1 million for proofs of concepts and pilot projects. The platform partner, co-founder and partner at the innovation company Helve Marija Rucevska is pleased with the launch of the pilot project: “The cooperation between the Rimi retail network and the start-up ecosystem in the introduction of sustainable and creative solutions will produce a practical outcome that is scalable in the Baltic market and further afield. This is a good sign for technology sector innovators – the road from idea to result can be quite quick and cover the Baltic market.”?

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