I know I’ve been a bit like a dog on a bone about the fact that print is not necessarily the enemy, but I think it’s important. Marketers are being hit like a locomotive with the idea that e-mail and other electronic media are green because they don’t use paper, but there is a lot more to environmental friendliness than cutting tree. Like . . . energy use.
This week, the print industry will gather in Chicago at Print 09 (September 11 - 16), one of its largest annual trade shows. There, the The Print Council will promote a new position paper titled, “Why Print Is Green.”
“Our industry is a leader in recycling, sustainability and pollution control,” says Ben Cooper, executive director of The Print Council. “In fact, we pioneered putting those concepts into widespread practice over the past three decades. But we did so quietly, to the extent that there is a lack of awareness regarding the environmentally responsible nature of print.
“Why Print Is Green” describes ten specific ways in which print is green, from the responsible products used, renewable energy sourced, increased recycling rates, to improved design and delivery methods. The report is intended to demonstrate why print media is the environmentally sound choice for communicating with the audiences they want to reach.
- Among the facts the white paper documents:
- In 2008, more than 57% of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling, more than any material.
By Tom Savage •
August 7, 2009
Image credit: KYZ at Flickr under a Creative Commons license
In the “green” space, credibility is crucial, and things are changing rapidly as investment washes in and out of the sector, companies make big eco-commitments, or they slink away from their environmental goals. A great way to stay up to date is to sign yourself up for a few newsletters in the space you’re interested in moving into. Being well-read is also a networking tool — you can know who’s growing, who’s been bought out, who’s making headlines. Use these developments as opportunities to reach out to the companies or people involved and start a meaningful dialogue.
Looking to take your printing, marketing, and packaging carbon-neutral? Consider attending the 2009 Green Media Conference held at Columbia College, Chicago, on June 9. The theme of the conference is “What’s Your Communication Footprint?”
The conference will look at issues such as how sustainability can save you money, what sustainable products and services are available now, and why sustainability gets you new business and helps you retain current customers.
A variety of workshops will offer experts in sustainable media, networking opportunities with sustainability leaders, tools and advice you can put to use right away, and best practices.
The conference will cover a variety of media, including:
By mcmilker •
February 3, 2009
Trying to determine how to best build your list of followers can be a challenge and a raging argument is going on right now with the Twitterati on quality versus quantity. Is it better to follow lots of people and have lots of followers or does the quality of the follower matter
By Amy Jussel •
February 2, 2009
Kids can earn some green by doing what they love, creating thought-provoking media on climate change!
For the first time ever, kids are ‘burnin’ down the house’ with ideas and innovation to pitch renowned PBS hub WGHB for 3 to 5 minute youth videos on how climate change affects kids’ own community environs, vying for $2000 production grants and potential PBS airing.
WGBH has made it even hotter for green teens by hosting ongoing webinars starting Feb. 3rd to help kids conceptualize, remix, pitch ideas and amass public opinion…(accessible via archive too, so don’t sweat the date)
Popular pioneer vloggers Ryanne Hodson (who I can attest is very generous with her knowledge, as I’ve attended her Media Center how-tos and checked out her book) and Jay Dedman (her partner, former CNN journalist/co-founder of Yahoo’s videoblogging group) will contribute their skill sets to get kids started. Partner org Teachers Domain makes it a cinch for students to get up to speed with factoids and resources too. The inspiration for the contest? The Frontline documentary, “Heat” all about global warming and businesses’ reactions in the court of public opinion contributing to make or break success. Deadline for entries at WBGH is March 15, 2009. Next up on the eco-competitions…
By Reenita Malhotra •
December 24, 2008
2008 has been a year signifying economic depression culminating in the worst holiday retail season in years. However it has also been a year of entrepreneurs burgeoning a variety of exciting new green businesses. Ecopreneurist has covered many of them over the course of the year. Here is a review of our favorite Ecopreneurs of 2008.
By Amy Jussel •
September 16, 2008
BBC Scotland is leveraging kids’ pension for codes, clues, missions and 007-style in a fun little interactive for young kids 7-9 called The Environmental Intelligence Unit.
In classic “the world needs your help” secret agent mode, the game puts the child in ‘action-hero’ context to take on traffic, pollution and rubbish aligned with the three R’s of reduce, reuse, recycle.
It’s a pretty basic primer to seed core concepts in sustainability, but definitely age appropriate, incorporating factoids and video clips as kids become environmental agents on a mission to ‘find the missing R.’ (spoiler alert: the teacher’s page will fill you in on what that “R” is!)
There are four island missions (house, clear out, school, beach) and if kids engage in all four to obtain the right code words they can receive a final Eco Certificate. (hmnn…I know this is geared more for ‘reach and teach’ tactics, but I could think of some more creative/green awards that might be a better fit than a printout! So ping me, BBC, the idea hamster here will give you some freebie creative director ideas!)
By Amy Jussel •
September 8, 2008
From action steps to green your child’s school to kids actions inspired by green media games and eco-focus, today we’ll continue where we left off in Part One of our Eco Child’s Play Green Media Mini-Series, honoring kids’ green media that embeds positive cues and meaningful play, and turning that inspiration into action.
At left is Dizzywood’s celebration of Wildwood Glen’s reforestation, where kids planted 15,000 trees in online to offline eco-parity, partnering with The Arbor Day Foundation. I’ve added a slew of other tree-planting ideas and sites at the end of this piece to get ready for 9-22-08, worldwide Tree Planting Day coming up in the next couple weeks. In keeping with the green media theme of hope, promise and eco-renewal…here’s more from my interview with Scott Arpajian, Co-Founder of preteen virtual world, Dizzywood…
I know I’ve been a bit like a dog on a bone about the fact that print is not necessarily the enemy, but I think it’s important. Marketers are being hit like a locomotive with the idea that e-mail and other electronic media are green because they don’t use paper, but there is a lot more to environmental friendliness than cutting tree. Like . . . energy use.
