Pro Carton launched a campaign to have the word ‘cartonboard’ officially recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary in December last year. While the world has changed significantly in the last six months, environmental concerns are still a high priority for consumers and businesses alike, with many celebrating the recent ’60 days without coal’ milestone in the UK, the longest period without fossil fuel since the industrial revolution.
2019 saw swathes of high-profile brands switching to cartonboard packaging in a bid to protect the planet’s eco-system, including the likes of Coca-Cola, Heineken and McDonald’s. However, the word cartonboard remains in the wilderness when it comes to most English dictionaries.
Pro Carton’s campaign included the unveiling of a five-foot-tall dictionary made entirely from cartonboard at a London library. When opened, it revealed a definition of ‘cartonboard’ that Pro Carton would like to see included in the modern English lexicon.
Pro Carton are attempting to get the word ‘cartonboard’ into the English Dictionary with the aid of a giant size English Dictionary made from cartonboard.
The association worked with packaging manufacturer, Graphic Packaging, to design and build the dictionary. They encountered a number of challenges during creation due to its imposing size.
Lee Nowak, Packaging Designer at Graphic Packaging, said, “We were delighted to collaborate with Pro Carton on this interesting project as we rarely manufacture anything even close to this size. Creating the dictionary was a great learning curve and provided us with the opportunity to come up with creative solutions to challenges we don’t usually face in our day-to-day jobs. We commend Pro Carton for its campaign to get the word cartonboard officially recognised – it’s an important material that will help us move towards a circular economy.”
Tony Hitchin, Pro Carton’s General Manager, said, “The designers at Graphic Packaging executed the development of the dictionary perfectly and it was exciting to watch it come together. We wanted the dictionary to be an impressive size so it would stand out and intrigue the public during our campaign. Its height and ability to open and close also demonstrates the strength and versatility of cartonboard. We hope that as lockdowns begin to ease across the UK we will be able to showcase this feat of design to as many people as possible.”
