Have you thought of...

All you need are some sticky labels and a confident smile as you hand it over. The idea comes from Kotuku Café Van, a mobile sustainability training service that travels from site to site in a white van. But we should point out that the cards look very much like, well, used travel tickets. If you’re wondering why this example looks a little crushed, that’s because it had to be rescued from the CM waste-bin…. www.kotuku.org/cafevan

…eye-catching marketing techniques?

Manufacturer H+H spotted an opportunity by giving away free beanie hats with its insulating blocks. ‘Hats can prevent up to 45% of body heat from being lost through the head. These beanies are nearly as thermally-efficient as our Celcon blocks,’ said company MD Mark Oliver (although we don’t know if he had a straight face at the time). If only the same logic were applied to other products. Acoustic insulation supplied with free headphones, or brise soleil with a free bottle of suntan lotion, the possibilities are endless…

…doing some voluntary work in the downturn?

Charity Living Paintings is keen to hear from construction professionals who may have time on their hands. It produces raised images of famous works of art, the natural world and great buildings as ‘fingertip tours’ for blind or partially sighted people. ‘Our work is seen by many of those who work in construction as opening up the built environment to those who cannot see, and is also a way to apply practical building skills to a good cause,’ says the charity’s Paul Hannon. www.livingpaintings.org

… fuelling up on Lucozade while at work?

Those nice advertising execs at MC Saatchi would certainly like you to. The fizzy orange energy drink – once found in hospital lockers and later more common in gym lockers – is now the subject of a marketing campaign aimed at ‘physically active workers’ to boost their energy levels. The poster and radio campaigns are running alongside a competition in which customers can win £1,000 a day. Now that sounds like a better energy boost than the bubbly orange stuff…

…declaring your love in a poem?

Diane Padgett did after she became intrigued by the driver of a crane at the BAM site for South Thames College opposite her flat. Although she’d only seen him from afar, she approached the driver, John (pictured, looking slightly scared) on Red Nose Day to recite her ode:

MY LOFTY FRIEND

I watch him from my window
All day long – my hero
Remote, aloof, remaining
Even when it’s raining.
I see him from my study
And wish he was my buddy.
His jib is cut precisely,
He swings it, oh, so nicely

In arcs almost balletic.
He’s just so, oh - kinetic.
But way too far above me.
How can I make him love me?
I’d signal, wave a banner,
Go out and buy a spanner
Or lob him a hot dinner?
That might be a winner.

It’s all so very tiresome.
I could go out and hire some
Enormous blooming ladder.
Could anything be sadder?
A girl can get impatient
While gazing from her casement.
Oh, come down to my level
You manipulative devil.

And all in a good cause – BAM donated a week’s crane hire to the campaign. If you’re feeling creative, send your musings to us at construction.manager@ubm.com