July 2025
At Tumptonics, we’ve always believed that small changes can make a big difference.
Choosing a can over a plastic bottle is one of them. Starting conversations about sustainability with the next generation is another.
That’s exactly what our Hello Soleau, Goodbye Plastic campaign set out to do.
Rooted in the Farm, Made for the Future
Soleau was born from a simple idea: to diversify the farm in a way that helps secure its future for generations to come.
At the heart of Soleau is something that has been part of life on the farm for much longer – our very own spring. The onsite spring has provided water to the farm for three generations, making it an important part of both our past and, through Soleau, our future.
When it came to choosing the right packaging for that water, we wanted to make a more sustainable choice. That’s why Soleau is packaged in aluminium cans rather than plastic bottles, helping us move away from single-use plastic and encouraging conversations around the choices we can all make.
And what better place to start those conversations than with the next generation?
A Big Challenge for Young Creatives
Earlier this year, we invited pupils from Usk Church in Wales Primary School and Ysgol Nantgaredig to take part in a very special competition.
Their challenge was simple: design a Tumptonics can inspired by our message of saying hello to Soleau and goodbye to plastic.
The response was fantastic.
We received an incredible 300 entries across the two schools, each with its own interpretation of what our environmental message meant to them.
From colourful landscapes and wildlife to imaginative illustrations celebrating our environment, every design reflected just how passionate young people are about looking after the world around them.
And with 300 designs in front of us, choosing the winners certainly wasn’t easy.
Thinking Outside the Box
The difficult task of judging the entries fell to Angharad Worsley, Marketing & Business Development Co-ordinator, and Amelia Worsley, Production Assistant.
They were looking for three things: originality, a strong environmental message and, importantly, a real “think outside the box” approach to the competition.
After plenty of deliberation, eight winners and eight highly commended entries were chosen across the two schools.
With so much imagination, effort and thought put into all 300 entries, narrowing them down was no easy task. But the final designs really captured what Hello Soleau, Goodbye Plastic is all about – creativity, sustainability and looking at everyday choices a little differently.
From the Classroom to the Can
The winning designs were then transformed into something truly special.
Rather than remaining drawings on paper, they became real Tumptonics cans.
A total of 902 cans were created between the two schools, bringing the pupils’ ideas off the page and onto the production line.
Seeing a child’s artwork brought to life on a production can is something quite magical, and we couldn’t wait to share that experience with them.
For the young artists, it meant an idea that had started with pencils, pens and plenty of imagination was suddenly rolling off a real production line.
Once complete, the cans were sent back with the schools for them to use however they wished – allowing a little piece of the campaign, and its sustainability message, to continue its journey within their school communities.
Behind the Scenes at Tumptonics HQ
To celebrate, we welcomed both the competition winners and our highly commended entrants to Tumptonics HQ for a morning behind the scenes.
For many, it was their first time inside a working production facility.
They watched their very own cans being filled with fresh Welsh spring water, learned how the canning process works and even helped box the finished products ready for their journey back to school.
But the learning didn’t stop at the production line.
On the day, we were delighted to be joined by Chris Dennis, Director at Castell Howell, who helped the pupils understand what happens once a product leaves the production facility. Chris talked them through the wider manufacturing and wholesale chain, helping them see the journey a product takes from being made and packaged through to distribution and, ultimately, reaching the customer.
Bringing the different parts of that journey together helped turn the visit into a wider STEM-focused learning experience.
The pupils were able to see first-hand how science, technology, engineering and maths all play a part in manufacturing, while also learning about logistics, distribution and the wider supply chain.
It gave the children the opportunity to connect what they learn in the classroom with a real working business – from the spring water and machinery on the production line to packaging, quantities, distribution and the journey of a finished product.
There were plenty of smiles, lots of questions and a real sense of excitement as the children watched something they had created in the classroom become a finished product right in front of them.
For us, that was an important part of the day. Hello Soleau, Goodbye Plastic may have started as a creative competition, but it became an opportunity to get young people thinking about sustainability, STEM and the many different people and processes involved in bringing an everyday product to life.
More Than Just a Can
For us, Hello Soleau, Goodbye Plastic has always been about more than producing a limited-edition can.
It’s about inspiring curiosity, encouraging creativity and helping young people understand that the choices we make today can have a lasting impact on tomorrow.
It was also an opportunity to show the children that sustainability doesn’t always have to begin with something enormous. Sometimes it starts with looking at something we use every day and asking whether there could be another way.
Through the competition, we wanted to make that conversation something the pupils could actively be part of – giving them the freedom to interpret the message in their own way and, ultimately, seeing their ideas turned into something real.
By combining creativity with a behind-the-scenes look at manufacturing and the wider supply chain, we also wanted the children to see the variety of skills, ideas and careers that sit behind the products we encounter every day!
We’re incredibly grateful to the staff, pupils and parents at Usk Church in Wales Primary School and Ysgol Nantgaredig for embracing the campaign with such enthusiasm. The imagination, effort and care show in every single design reminded us exactly why these conversations matter.
A huge congratulations to all of our winners and highly commended artists. We hope seeing your designs roll off the production line is something you’ll remember for years to come.
Here’s to the next generation of creators, innovators and environmental champions.
And here’s to saying hello to Soleau and goodbye to plastic!