If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to forgo the ubiquitous plastic bags in favor of reusables, or if your client wants to give away reusable bags for a promotion, it is, as Marc Gunther puts forth here, complicated. Here, Marc has distilled a lot of really good information, giving us — as usual — a lot to think about. Read it all here:
Archive for December 2011
GreenTown Joplin: Sustainable and Healthy Disaster Recovery
by Nora DePalma on December 24th, 2011
Nearly five years after a massive tornado leveled 95% of Greensburg, KS, the town has become a living laboratory and a proving ground for emerging environmental technologies.
The non-profit Greensburg GreenTown has been the educational resource for the community, working side-by-side with city and county officials, business owners and local residents to incorporate sustainable principles into their rebuilding process, while also serving as a conduit through which donations can be distributed.
GreenTown was founded by Daniel Wallach and his wife, Catherine Hart, who live about a half hour away from Greensburg. They were moved to take action after witnessing the tornado’s aftermath. They realized that out of great sorrow, they could do more than just help the town rebuild. They could help the town to rebuild better and smarter, while advancing awareness of high-performance, healthy homes and buildings.
Now GreenTown is now taking its award-winning blueprint for natural disaster rebuilding to help an even larger city, Joplin Missouri, which suffered a similarly hideous EF5 tornado this past May. The Green Earth PR Network has made a contribution to help GreenTown Joplin in its efforts to:
• construct a series of eco-demonstration homes,
• establish eco-lodging for people that want to visit Joplin, and
• author a handbook to help guide future victims of natural disasters embrace a sustainable approach to recovery.
GreenTown Joplin needs YOUR help, too. Here’s how:
1. Make an individual donation (via PayPal) and become a member here.
2. Join as a corporate member here.
3. For product donations and more, call Daniel and the GreenTown team at 620-723-2790.
4. Spread the word!
A Top 10 List Worth Checking Out from Andrew Winston
by l.lilienthal on December 23rd, 2011As Andrew Winston says, “Yes, it’s December again somehow: time to look back on what we’ve learned and oversimplify into a handy list.” In lieu of doing that, I’d like to share Andrew’s, because it’s a darn good list! Thanks, Andrew as always, for distilling the news so well and providing us with so many links within your story that take us interesting places. Here’s is Andrew’s take on the 10 big stories in sustainability and green business this year:
Reflections on Green Trends
by Nancy Rogers on December 14th, 2011Awareness is expanding. LinkedIn reports a 19% increase in people with “sustainability” as a skill in 2011 over 2010. Consumers and business understand that product choices affect our quality of life and future. Whether it’s the residue from soap or how to dispose of appliances, questions are raised about impacts. As we move into a new year, I hope this foundation continues to evolve into informed action on energy, water, resource management, green building, air quality and all the facets that contribute to a healthy planet.
In my eyes green has become a melting pot of people and organizations around the globe with different priorities purporting to serve planet survival for future generations. Some are authentic; some are inserting “green” into existing sales materials. As communicators and consumers, knowledge brings responsibility to ensure holistic approaches and transparency at all levels.
Each week, I meet green marketers and eco-strategies with newly minted credentials. I do not question their passion. Whether they are checking a box on LinkedIn or calling attention to actual experience, it’s thrilling that we are now explaining “how” more often than “why” green matters.
Green Earth PR consultant Lisa Lilienthal observes, “As consumers become savvier, their expectations are higher in terms of value proposition, and that includes how you source, manufacture, distribute and recycle. Green is becoming shorthand for a more ethical approach to business in general.” She offered the Patagonia Don’t Buy This Jacket ad as an example.
Our colleague Louise Mulherin agrees that Patagonia has been perceptive with its communications strategies and posted on this particular ad. She notes, “The challenge becomes when consumers aren’t savvy and companies talk to them as if they were. Companies need to recognize there is a broad spectrum of understanding. Information should be formatted to suit the audience.”
Companies need to take into account that a green building audience or a facility manager would have different requirements than someone in the food industry.
Companies that are successfully using green marketing are transparent, relevant and clever to grab and hold attention. Patagonia included a call to action and mutual responsibility with a goal of 50,000 signatures to support The Common Threads Initiative. Results are tracked online.
We can follow the results and the example. Please add your thoughts on what you’ve observed and what you expect for green communications in the coming year.
A similar post appears in the Green Communications Blog for Environmental Design + Construction http://www.edcmag.com/blogs/14/post/reflections-on-green-trends and Sustainable Facility http://www.sustainablefacility.com/blogs/14/post/87569-sustainable-facility-blog-2011-12-13-reflections-on-green-trends-.