Press statement

Naturally Involved promote World Water Day in Poland

Warsaw, 17 March 2008 – In the period between March 17 and 24, a unique 3D graffiti will be displayed in three Polish cities - Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk. The themes of the graffiti will be closely related to water. The purpose of this action is to draw attention of the possibly largest group of Poles to this day which is ecologically important – the World Water Day, falling on March 22.

The action’s initiator and author is Nestle Waters Direct Polska, Dar Natury Branch, the producer and distributor of water in 5- and 3-gallon bottles, leader of water supply for home and workplace on the Polish market. Nestle Waters Direct is a company belonging to the international conglomerate Nestle Waters, specialising in the production and bottling of natural spring and mineral waters. “The World Day for Water is a special day to us, – says Włodzimierz Pytlak, Country Business Manager Nestle Waters Direct Polska, – as a company dealing with water, we are particularly sensitive about this issue. In our everyday work, we do our best for our actions to be as little invasive for the natural environment as possible. All this, because we are aware of what a great gift water is for all of us.“

Nestle Waters Direct Polska, Dar Natury Branch is involved in the protection of natural environment since quite some time. Investments devoted to this purpose have reached nearly PLN 2 million. „We are all responsible for the state of environment, companies in particular," – says Włodzimierz Pytlak – Saving water indispensable for production, saving energy and modern air filters which secure lower emissions of harmful elements to the atmosphere, are the main pro-ecological investments. We have also initiated the process of purchasing CNG-driven delivery trucks, which are environment friendly.

“This is naturally not all. Considering and respecting the values of natural environment, we implemented an Environmental Management System, consistent with the international standard ISO 14001.” The pro-ecological actions of the company cover various spheres of the company’s activity. „A very vital point of our strategy is the pro-ecological education of society, – says Włodzimierz Pytlak - "therefore, we have initiated and are executing a long-term programme in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which we named ‘Naturally Involved’. We think that the name adequately reflects our approach to ecology.“

As a market leader, Nestle Waters Direct knows that it participates in the process of creating social awareness concerning water. It sets trends and tendencies in the protection of the state of the natural environment in Poland and in the activities aimed at preservation of its good condition. Environmental policies have become an important element defining objectives and tasks. Our company follows the principle of sustainable development, that is, strives to maintain balance and relations between economy, society and environment“We have committed ourselves to employ responsible practices in the scope of environmental protection regarding all of our activity fields,” – says Wlodzimierz Pytlak - “We wish for Our Company to be environmentally friendly, both in theory and in practice. Due to the pro-ecological approach of Nestle Waters Direct the company received the AQUA AWARD 2007 in the category of the Best Environmental Initiative, awarded by the jury of the International Trade Fair EBWA.”

The first stage in the pro-ecological education is the celebration of the World Water Day. “World Water Day falls on March 22 and we have decided to celebrate it in an original way this year,” – says Aleksandra Iwańczak, , marketing director in Nestle Waters Direct; – “A 3D graffiti – giving a three dimensional impression – in three selected cities and localisations, characterised by a large daily flow of people, was created. Naturally, the theme was water. The objective of this kind of action is to draw the attention of pedestrians to this ecologically important day. The graffiti will be on display between 17 and 24 March in Warsaw nearby the shopping centre Złote Tarasy, in Kraków at the shopping centre Galeria Kazimierz, and in Gdańsk in the vicinity of Cinema City Krewetka. We hope that this initiative will meet with a positive reception. We have given a lot of thought to the question what tool we should use in order for the communicated message to intrigue the audiences. Finally, we decided to use a 3D graffiti, as it is a new and very attractive form of communication, particularly for the young,” – says dyrektor Iwanczak; – “We would like to continue with such forms of activity, to systematically build the pro-ecological awareness among Poles.“

The graffiti was created with the use of a special technique, employed by only a few graffiti artists in Poland. One of the best in this field is undoubtedly the author of projects for the “Naturally Involved” programme, Marek Kirklo (airbrushstudio). This is not his first project of this kind, but the first to be pro-ecologically engaged.

Ecology is a vital social issue; therefore, Nestle Waters Direct is actively joining the mainstream of pro-ecological education of Poles through the programme “Naturally Involved”. An external expression of this is the graffiti action.

Additional information:

Katarzyna Węglińska,
Raczkiewicz Chenczke Consultants
Tel. (022) 435 11 60, 0-507 000 836
e-mail: katarzyna.weglinska@rc2.pl