A new water dispensing technology created by UK designer Oliver Craig could change the way that European shoppers and commuters drink water, and it’s a technology that could help eliminate water bottle waste that’s cluttering international landfills greatly due to increased convenience.
In today’s marketing world, the paper industry is seen as the big, bad guy — the energy hogging, landfill-clogging waste producer that needs to be replaced by cleaner, more efficient electronic media. But is this really the case? The paper industry claims that the opposite is true. It points out that electronic media are huge consumers of energy, and when you consider that the paper industry is one of the largest consumers of clean energy like wind power, the tables may actually be turned.
In a recent publication, “Pixels or Paper?”, International Paper wrote:
Our industry is one of the biggest users of renewable, low-carbon energy in the world. Sixty percent of the energy used to make paper in the U.S. comes from carbon-neutral renewable resources and is produce on site at mills. In addition, these facilities use combined heat and power (CHP) generation systems, which are 80-90% efficient. Fossil fuel use and purchased energy in this industry is steadily decreasing.
It’s a debate that’s raged in the printing and marketing community for some time. If you switch to electronic methods of communication, are you really greener than if you use print? Or by switching some portion of your print marketing to email or other e-communications, are you really helping the planet?
International Paper has produced a new brochure in its “Down to Earth” environmental series, “Pixels Vs. Paper: Are Pixels Greener Than Paper?” that addresses this question. Of course, it is written by a paper company, so the answer will not be a surprise, but the brochure does contain some interesting tidbits that marketers may want to keep in mind:
I was just reading about a report on the psychographics of Hispanic teens, one of the fastest growing demographic segments—projected to reach 62% of the entire teen market in 10 years. Among other things, they are described as extroverted, outspoken, wired, and defined by culture. The top three media consumed by Hispanic youth are 1) the Internet, 2) TV and 3) radio.
In light of the barrage of data on the decline of direct mail, I’ve done a lot of writing these days in the defense of print. But the psychographics of your customer or prospect base (such as Hispanic teens) may well determine which medium (or media) you use. That could mean greening your marketing program at the same time.
I’m never a fan of reducing your use of print simply for the sake of greening. After all, electronic media have their own carbon footprints, too. They are just hidden in energy use, disposal of used electronic equipment, and so on. Comparing the carbon footprints of the two can be very complicated.
Sometimes we think we have to change governments and corporations in order to see environmental change, but change is just as powerful when it happens one person at a time. And sometimes it’s easier to do.
About a month ago, I made two posts about the environmental efforts of SunChips, a snack food company. I had become excited when I discovered, quite by accident, that one of my favorite chips was packaged by a company with a deep environmental commitment. It’s always nice when you discover something that you love anyway has a secondary environmental benefit. Makes me feel better about eating junk food.
Yesterday, I ran into a guy who was eating a bag of them. I joked, “Hey, did you know that SunChips’ packaging is one-third compostable?”
He immediately perked up. “Really? I didn’t know that. Cool!”
Then he added thoughtfully. “I enjoy using the environment. But I don’t know much about saving it. I drive a diesel truck.”
Yesterday, I blogged about the reasons marketers are choosing “green” as a marketing strategy. But for companies that pursue this strategy, it becomes clear pretty quickly that just marketing a green product isn’t enough. The company has to be sincere in its own commitment to environmental sustainability and show genuine sensitivity to the needs and concerns of its customer base. This has to be more than lip service. It’s got to be the real deal.
So who are these green consumers (or LOHAS or lifestyles of health and sustainability consumers) and what are some of their demographics and psychographics that will help marketers to relate to them effectively? Collette Chandler of Keyboard Culture (Green Marketing), describes them this way:
What drives LOHAS consumers to make the purchases they do?
What’s all the fuss about green marketing? It’s more than just another hook to get people to buy products. It’s about the types of people who purchase green products. They have higher than average incomes, they are willing to pay up to 20% more for products and services (according to Collette Chandler, an author and consultant specializing in green marketing), and they are extremely brand loyal. It’s a marketer’s dream.
It’s no wonder that companies are targeting this marketplace.
More and more frequently, I’m seeing companies choose sustainability, not just as operational preference, but also as a marketing approach. They are marketing “green” or sustainability (because “green” and “sustainability” are different) as a way to connect with consumers and sell products.
Thus, when I was contacted by Don Carli, senior research fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Communications, about a three-minute video on the topic of sustainability as a marketing issue, I was intrigued. It sounded like a headline I’d write. That always gets me interested.
The video was posted on YouTube by “Three-Minute AdAge,” a daily news “show.” What I thought was interesting about this particular video was that, while it claimed to be about marketing, it really focused on the need for sustainability, not just as a way to connect with consumers, but as a way to protect marketers’ supply chains from disruption and price spikes based on their dependence upon carbon. It was interesting how Carli tied the two together—indeed, he appeared to make the two issues inseparable.
Here are some of Carli’s comments (edited for brevity):
This post was originally posted on Eco-Libris blog on June 21.
The added value of going green is constantly growing. According to a survey conducted lately, 46% of consumers say they would shop at a retailer more if it was environmentally friendly. Another study of Mintel shows 62% of customers choose a restaurant based on their commitment to the environment.
A Green Printer interview with Carmen Spagnola, entrepreneur and owner of m.
1. What made you want to start m?
I started m because I was a frustrated consumer. I decided that if I want to have access to smarter, more beautifully designed, more responsible products and amenities for my home and family, I was going
to have to create more demand. Markets are a bit of a chicken-and-egg relationship. Many retailers will tell you that they only provide what their customers want. That is only part of my modus operandi.
I want to showcase the possibility of a better performing future, so much of what I sell and promote is currently considered ahead of the market. But how will the market know what it wants if we don’t inspire it to want more?
I’ve been seeing a lot of “green calculators” around these days. I love the concept because they accomplish two goals in one swoop: 1) they encourage businesses or consumers to take more environmentally responsible actions that 2) coincidentally also happen to help the marketer’s bottom line.
The latest green calculator I saw was on my bank’s website. The bank has been trying to encourage its customers to move to online statements and bills, and the latest iteration of its efforts is an online calculator that determines how much money you can save by going paperless.
It works like this. You input the number of paper bills you receive each month and the number of paper bills you pay each month. Then it automatically generates an estimate of what environmental impact the elimination of this paper would have. In this case, I input 10 paper bills received and 10 paper bills paid.
The results?
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