Beer building blocks by Heineken
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Design & Innovation Sustainability Bottling glass bottles Heineken brick beer bottles Heineken International Heineken sustainable bottlesA story from the past about how Heineken turned its beer bottles into homes for the poor.
To be sure, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones… but what about bricks?
Heineken International, the Dutch brewing company founded in 1864, is a very popular brewery, currently populating the media with television commercials that show how its consumers can be the life of the party.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
The brewery is, however, better known for its iconic green bottle, the deep red star over its name, and the three smiling lowercase ‘e’ that tell you you are going to have a good time with this beer.
Okay… maybe not everyone has noticed the happy ‘e’ on the labels, but Heineken hopes you do.
While the iconic color of the beer bottle has been a key face of the Heineken brand, 51 years ago the actual green bottle didn’t actually look like a beer bottle.
Image via archinet.com
Back in 1963, Alfred Heineken, the man who actually created the classic Heineken ‘solid’ red star label a year later, came up with an idea that is about as green as it comes.
With an eye towards re-use, Heineken created building materials that could be used to construct buildings in impoverished communities—building materials made up out of beer bottles.
Image via en.nai.nl.
Over at the Smithsonian.com, you can read how Heineken created a brick that can hold beer, or how one beer company thought it was hip to be square. Click HERE to read.
Topmost image courtesy of Heineken International.
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