Our Mission

Since our founding in 1995, we felt a certain responsibility to offer consumers healthy alternatives to their diet through food-based products that were not only good for them, but that they enjoyed. So for 12 years, we have been producing smoothies with fruit for nutritional benefit, always exploring additions to our product line like Acai which is full of anti-oxidants and a wealth of natural anti-aging nutrients.

Last year we began exploring the idea of being good not only for the people that populate the towns and neighborhoods around our stores, but being good for the neighborhoods and towns themselves through better environmental practices. We embarked on a Good For You, Good For The Planet coast-to-coast tour to raise awareness of the importance of taking better care of yourself and better care of our planet.

Currently, we are doing the best we can in relation to serving our smoothies in reusable plastic containers and recycled polystyrene. The City of Los Angeles has recently adopted a recycling program specifically for the recycling of polystyrene products into home building products. We know that doing as good as the market currently offers across the country, falls short of our more ambitious goals to be good for the planet.

And so we embark on a challenge, a contest if you will, to individuals, companies, academic institutions to come up with an environmentally friendly solution to recycling or eliminating polystyrene from the waste stream. Here’s how to participate.

Gaining Entry

Who is Eligible to Enter & Win?

The Contest is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (excluding Arizona) and the District of Columbia, who are either 18 years or older, or the age of majority in the jurisdiction where they reside, whichever is older, at the time of entry. All employees of Sponsor or any of its franchisees, and the immediate families and household members of such employees are not eligible to enter or win.

How to Enter the Contest

The Contest period runs from January 1, 2008 to September 30, 2008. To enter, contestants must submit a solution to the polystyrene problem that meets one of the following criteria: (a) an environmentally friendly alternative smoothie container that must be able to keep Sponsor’s smoothies “smoothie-like” for at least 20 minutes with no effect on taste, quality or consistency and not be cost-prohibitive to produce in a mass production environment today or (b) a green solution that results in the reduction, re-use or elimination of polystyrene in the environment.

Contestants can enter by either submitting the official online entry form at www.planetsmoothie.com. Each entry shall contain the following information: (a) entrant’s full name, address, email, age and name of the company that entrant currently works for; (b) an up to 250-word description of the proposed solution and why entrant thinks it’s a solution to the polystyrene problem; and (c) a photograph or other image showing the entrant with a prototype of the proposed solution.

Judging Process

Entries will be received from January 1, 2008 through September, 30, 2008. Judging will begin after the entry deadline. The judging criteria for each entry will include the following: (a) the originality and innovative nature of the proposed solution; (b) the viability and feasibility of the proposed solution; (c) the degree to which the proposed solutions will solve the polystyrene problem; and (d) the cost-effectiveness of implementing the proposed solution.

There will be one (1) Grand Prize winner chosen. The winner will be announced on or before December 31, 2008. All decisions of the judges are final and binding on all entrants.

Marketing/Public Relations

Planet Smoothie will announce the program in January and will begin its search for a solution with copy on its actual polystyrene cup as well as postings for an inventive solution via a series of social media/networking sites and recruitment sites (i.e., myspace, facebook, craigslist, monster.com). A press release will also be distributed to national and local media.

Prizes

Recognizing the planet is full of smart, aspiring inventors, many of whom do not have large institutions funding their research or government grants, Planet Smoothie will reward the winner $5,000 -- which could be used for patent searchability, filing or anything that they feel will bring their “Good for the Planet” solution to market. And for the first year, to keep their energy up, it’s free smoothies … one a week for one year or (52) 22oz. smoothies.

Cup Content

Good for You. Good for the Planet. That’s our mission. Enjoying our best tasting, healthy smoothies is an important step. Encouraging friends and family to re-use or convert polystyrene is another step. So spread the word. Planet Smoothie is looking for green solutions. To the individual who comes up with a way to “re-use it or lose it,” we’ll reward $5,000 and free smoothies for a year. Then we can have the best of both worlds. Visit planetsmoothie.com for details. Deadline for solution submissions is 09.30.08.