In the lead up to Chinese New Year, on January 31st this year, Hong Kong residents were thinking about gifts wrapped in red and gold. And Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong was thinking about sustainable use of paper.

The amount of wrapping paper used in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year results in as many as 1,600 trees being cut down, and 170,000 litres of petrol burned. If all those trees were laid end to end they would stretch from the earth’s surface to an altitude 3 times that at which commercial airplane flies. Whoa.

Railing against a tradition is no way to effect change. S&S did something so much smarter. It installed its Instant Newspaper Recycler in Sun Hung Kai’s East Point City shopping centre.

The 2.4 metre high S&S creation transforms old newspapers into red and gold wrapping paper in 30 seconds. And when you get your wrapping paper, you notice something remarkable about it. The patterns are printed using silkscreen techniques on top of the old newspapers, giving each piece a unique design. At the same time, the prints also highlight the importance of going green, with recycling icons used in each design.

East Point City’s shoppers also thought it was an elegant recycling idea. Long queues waited patiently to have their newspapers reinvented.

Mr. Eric Lau, assistant general manager (Promotions) of SHK, agreed,  “We’re always very highly committed to saving the environment whenever we can. Especially during the festive season, there’s a lot of wastage. We’re very happy with this creative execution from Saatchi, and we hope to remind people of the importance of recycling.”

Saatchi & Saatchi South China managing director, Alexis Chiu, added, “This project is very close to our hearts because we’re really passionate about environmental issues here, and it’s a good demonstration of how we can use our creative talents to find solutions to make Hong Kong a greener, happier place for all.”

The campaign lives here.

 Credits for The Instant Newspaper Recycler:

Creative agency: Saatchi and Saatchi Hong Kong

Manager director: Alexis Chiu

Account service: Emile Cheung

Chief creative officer: Carol Lam

Senior art director: Kenneth Foo

Senior copywriter: Adeline Siow

Integrated director: Arion Yau

Head of creative service: Pelie Kwok

Lead content producer: Clement Shaw

Delivery support: Sheena Pang, Lavin Lau

Director of communications: Rebecca Liu

Vendor: Unite Company, Hong Kong

Director & video production: Joshua Wong, Laundromatte Hong Kong