A newly identified group of eco-conscious consumers doesn't believe that recycling goes far enough to protect the planet. No, for "precyclers", a segment of consumers identified by The Intelligence Group, the goals are straightforward: 1) to reduce what you use by limiting purchases to necessary items with minimal packaging and; 2) reuse what you use (think plastic water bottles or shopping bags) before you recycle.
"It's not just about how you dispose of [products and packaging] anymore," Melissa Lavigne, director of marketing for The Intelligence Group, told Brandweek. "It's about being conscious about products you buy in the first place. That's the idea behind precycling."
The Intelligence Group identified precycling activity in the firm's Cassandra Report back in May. According to its research, 45 percent of trendsetters and 14 percent of mainstream consumers had "cut down on bottled water purchases" in the previous six months. Similar numbers of trendsetting and mainstream consumers had "cut down on use of plastic bags" during the same timeframe.
Discussion Questions: How common do you see precycling behavior becoming in the next 10 years? Does precycling have a generational aspect to it, i.e. younger consumers are more likely to precycle, suggesting that this behavior will become more commonplace in the future? What are the implications for brand manufacturers and retailers?