Considering the growing mound of plastic waste that is clogging Bali’s waterways and coastline, the news of a US$10 million plastic recycling facility has “market opportunity” and “environmental solution” written all over it. This is what The Jakarta Post has to say:

When opened, PT Enviro Pallets will process around 30 tons of plastic waste every day to produce the shipping pallets, which will be sold locally, as well as being exported to several overseas countries.

It is a bit of a stretch to believe that “the beaches, rivers and the ground are expected to be free from the mountains of plastic waste” (dixit J Roger Harkin, President Director) as a result of the new facility, but it certainly opens up some exciting opportunities:

1. No more, or reduced, need for plastic waste to be transported by road to recycling facilities in Java (Ed. following discussions with individuals who are familiar with the factory, it appears that as of December 2012 that PT Enviro Pallets still largely relies on plastic waste from Java. This calls for more local waste collection efforts…)
2. Spurring local demand for plastic waste, potentially increasing the efficiency of collection efforts in the informal sector
3. Increased local awareness of plastic pollution
4. Employment/income opportunities in Bali
5. (Bonus: Word also has it that the factory is planned as a low footprint facility.)

No doubt that the local government is delighted with this investment. So far, the official line has focused on driving up recycling rates rather than taking on the more sensitive issue of reduced or more efficient resource consumption/use, which remains a relatively taboo subject. And yet, this is an issue which Bali will have to face up to eventually.

The advent of PT Enviro Pallets is a welcome milestone in Bali’s epic struggle to manage its waste, and one that will be well worth following in 2013 and beyond.

Post by Marc-Antoine Dunais

One thing we really like to do at Catalyze is making it easier for people to make purchasing decisions that won’t trash nature. Recently, we developed a handy pocked guide with a list of products certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization that is making valiant attempts to convert the palm oil industry to better practices. The system encourages RSPO.org visitors to register their email address in order to download the guide, and then to receive automatic updates whenever the guide is updated with new products.

In the sea of choices consumers are faced with in supermarkets, sustainable palm oil products are far and few between. But for those who care about making responsible choices, at least they can get started with this guide.

Download the RSPO Shopping Guide

Slowly, steadily, a growing number of restaurants, cafes and shops in Bali are doing the unthinkable: telling customers that they can’t have that pesky, single-use, much bedeviled plastic bag. There are still few businesses going this route, and some you could say are a tad eccentric – but such is the fate of those willing to take risks. Which brings in the need for rewards—and PlastikDetox.

PlastikDetox, the brainchild of a number of loose guns in the environmental scene in Bali, is a campaign of sorts to get small businesses to commit to a No Plastic Bag policy (or a “pay-if-you-want-it” alternative), in exchange of which the backers will seek to get them free promotion through the island’s prolific independent media. So far, a few green inclined businesses in Sanur have signed on to the commitment, and the campaign is trialing the concept to see whether it has legs.

Unavoidably, PlastikDetox has pitched a social tent on Facebook, where you can monitor their progress in terms of recruiting new businesses. We’ll be reporting on the campaign as and if it grows.

At one time, the greatest concern of environmental pundits in Indonesia was that the ‘going green’ trend would sputter and die before it had a chance to take hold. We would then jump on the next lifestyle zeitgeist, missing out on a rare opportunity to bring about fundamental behaviour changes that are at the core of a more sustainable world.

Today, we have a different kind of problem.

Billboards urge us to save energy. Supermarkets hand out so-called Earth-friendly bags. Our toll road contractor is now a green contractor. Flip-flop manufacturers proudly proclaim on labels that they’re doing their bit by using rubber, not plastic, for your footwear. Even lubricant firms—this is a personal favourite—harp about the “eco-friendly” advantages of pouring their oil into your motorbike.

Degradable plastic bag floating in river

As it turns out, ‘green’ has unexpectedly stuck around—but mostly as noise.

Ad nauseam, we’re dished out copious servings of smiling trees, blue skies, green tick-marks and recycling icons that are all converging our thoughts on this one belief: we really are going green.

The reality is that the green trend in Indonesia, and to be fair in many other countries, has failed to deliver the goods (cleaner air, less waste, healthier people etc.) because it mostly remains what it is—marketing spin and PR—instead of ushering in a new way of doing business and behaving.

When a plastic bag manufacturer produces a bag that claims it is environment-friendly, the consumer feels validated that she is doing the right thing when using it at the supermarket. Never mind the fact that the bag only degrades faster under specific environmental conditions, and that it still causes considerable environmental harm until it vanishes. So millions of plastic bags continue to roll out of the factories. Business as usual.

When a city organizes a car-free day, citizens understandably cheer and get on their bicycles. Never mind the fact that meanwhile, no serious effort is made to promote a safe, cost-effective and convenient public transportation system. So thousands of new cars are purchased (including “environment-friendly” models), gridlock continues and the air becomes more toxic. Business as usual.

Let’s be clear here. The above examples are steps in the right direction. Some of these efforts may even mean well, as opposed to knee-jerk reactions to a trend. But they are timid, small and incomplete—in other words, completely inadequate when one considers the colossal challenges we face in developing truly sustainable lifestyles.

In 2010, this blog reported on the findings of the 2010 Green Brands Survey – more than ever, its findings are relevant and remain mostly unaddressed.

It’s time to realize that the only way to take “go green” beyond the slogan and to realize green consumerism, is to bring about long-term behavioural change. In my next blog post, I will talk about how we can make that happen.

This question has been persistently nagging us for the past couple of years. So much in fact, that we decided in late 2010 to roll up our sleeves and go find out the answer by ourselves. Five months later, with more than 1,000 responses to our online green products survey, the results are in and a team of Catalyzers (along with a little help from our friends at ActivDesign and Komunigrafik) is flat out compiling them in a report—Greendonesia 2011—due at the end of May.

So what’s the report all about?

Greendonesia throws some light on Indonesian consumers’ perceptions of environmental issues and greener products, allowing them to answer questions such as ‘which product environmental features are the most important to you?’ and ‘what would you do if you found out that a company is involved in greenwashing’?

What survey respondents told us offers exciting opportunities for the private sector, especially consumer goods companies, to take a harder look at how products are designed, marketed and recycled at the end of their usable life.

But that’s only part of the picture.

Because greener products aren’t actually any greener unless consumers use them the right way, we provide recommendations for companies to develop tighter relationships with consumers to help them deal with the environmental issues that resonate with them most (and no, it turns out it’s not climate change).

At a time when the retail sector expands at unprecedented rates in Indonesia, and the middle class (and its disposable income) continue to grow, we hope that companies can look to Greendonesia for ideas to reduce their environmental impact, and enlist the involvement of consumers in the process.

More soon!

Many green products are being inconsistently marketed. Look no further than Organik Indonesia‘s beans, recently encountered (much unexpectedly) in a Cirebon supermarket a few weeks ago. While organic food is all about using a more natural, less aggressive approach to growing food, the packaging completely undermines the message.

For one, the green beans are packaged in styrofoam and clingwrap plastic, materials which are difficult, if not impossible, to dispose of in a clean way. Their likely fate is either to be burned, or to be carried away by rivers, or to clog up sewers and agricultural land where other beans are growing (you can see where I am headed with this).

The second issue is the product messaging. Take a look at the  icons below the LOVE FRESH slogan. There’s (from left to right) paperless office, ‘hemat BBM’ (low gas consumption!), ‘hemat energi’ (energy friendly), recycle bag, and recycle bin. The motive is clear: project a ‘green’ image to consumers. But in this case, should there not be a more clear connection between the icons and organic food?

So how can Organik Indonesia reconcile a product that is supposed to be environment-friendly with a marketing strategy that, well, isn’t? Time to reconsider the packaging.

1. Ditch the styrofoam pack and replace it with a less polluting alternative. Using recycled paper or corn, it is possible to create food-safe, resistant and visually appealing food boxes. There may be a higher cost involved compared to the plastic alternative, but there is already a price premium with organic products anyway.
2. Replace the glossy green leaflet with a recycled equivalent. Even a locally-made, coarse recycled paper would do the trick and could be branded with the company logo. Not only would this reduce package waste, it would also make the product stand out more from others in the supermarket aisles.
3. Replace the clingwrap with cellophane, a biodegradable product made from cellulose (the primary component of cell walls of green plants) that has favourable characteristics for storing food. Again, cellophane comes at a higher price compared to plastic.
4. Make the product message relevant to consumers. There are countless opportunities here, such as promoting the availability of information on organics on the Organik Indonesia website, explaining what organic actually means and the associated benefits, or even explaining where the product comes from.

Don’t stress it, few people can. Even fewer are brave enough to try describing what on Earth a green product is, without running into a barrage of strongly opinionated counter-definitions.

Yes, just like anything related to the environment, folks have strong sentiments about what a green product really is; does it save the world? or does it just have a pretty logo with a green leaf on it? And should you care?

Yes, this blog post argues, but I won’t be dishing out my version of what a green product is. Actually, I’m going to help you come up with your own.

To begin with, it helps to know what you expect a green product to actually do. Do you view a green product as being any good that helps consumers to ‘do the right thing’? In this rather simple view, your reusable bag, tumbler and bicycle are all de facto green products.

Well, that was easy.

But suppose for a minute that you want to raise the bar. Perhaps you think that a green product should have a reduced environmental impact compared to another product in the same category.

For example, imagine an air-condition unit that only consumes 400 Watt/hour compared to 900 Watt/hour compared for another similarly-sized product with the same performance. Surely that is a green product, right? Or is just green-er, until a less energy intensive air-con unit hits the market and puts it out of business?

So green is a shifting target then, which somehow makes this whole green product definition thing a lot more complicated. What is considered green this year may not be in 2015.

Now let’s add a new element into the equation. Suppose that a super-duper air-con unit that smashes all energy consumption records to date is launched. Shopping frenzy ensues, sales soar, and the engineering team members get big fat bonuses.

Individuals who were skeptical of the need to buy an air-con unit get enthralled by its ‘eco-friendliness’ and buy it. Before you know it, 2 million units are in use, cooling buildings and driving up electricity consumption overall (with everything this implies in terms of coal use, greenhouse gases pumped into the air, bla bla bla).

So – is this air-con unit still a green product—overall? If you think yes, you can close this browser tab and go check the sports page on CNN.com. The rest of us are going to dig a little deeper.

Suppose you’re not sold on the idea that an air-con units can be called a green product just because of one eco-friendly attribute (read my post about this problem here). Inside you, a squeaky voice is crying out: “But surely, we can do better! After all, aren’t all these air-con units still having a massive environmental impact—overall?”

Glad you asked.

So you widen further your outlook of what a green product should do. All of a sudden, its not about just being better at one thing (relatively reduced electricity use), but about being green in all aspects of its manufacture and use. The air-con casing is made from recycled plastic. The factory that assembles the units is powered by solar power. They are transported to the distribution centre using trucks running on compressed natural gas. The heat released by the air-con unit is captured to warm water. The used freon is collected and safely recycled, and you have even introduced a take-back scheme to recycle old units.

But, damn it, you’re still having an environmental impact. Some of your consumers are still letting the air-con unit run all night. You still haven’t found a way to reduce your energy use in recycling the plastic to make the casing. And you simply cannot find recycled copper wires at a competitive price. After all, you don’t want to drive your business over the edge.

You may have come to various conclusions at this point. Maybe some of the thoughts that are bubbling up in your head include:

a) green products are everywhere! Think of all these traditional products that use untreated natural resources and which are sold locally, and are naturally biodegradable.

b) there is no such thing as a green product. Its a moving target and we’ll never reach zero environmental impact. As David Allen says, “Every product will generate an environmental footprint and only rarely will one design alternative be unambiguously environmentally preferable.  Designers will continually face trade-offs between different environmental impacts, yet must ultimately make design decisions”

c) green is not a product, its a process of constant refinement towards reduced impact and better performance.

d) It’s one thing to make a green product, and other to make consumers use it in a responsible way. Designed green does not necessarily mean green impact.

e) I can’t think. Give me a green product definition quick. And another one.

Has this post left you with more questions than answers? Then you are all set to begin coming up with the answers to shape your own definition of a green product

The other day, walking down the aisles of Ace Hardware at Bali Galeria mall, I was struck to see the growing range of products that are sold on their green merits. Considering that Ace mostly sells products that are shipped from around the world, their actual environmental-friendliness can be questioned; most of these products have travelled a considerable distance to get to Bali, resulting in a relatively large carbon footprint. Still, the trend is encouraging.

Westcott scissors made with recycled plastic

An interesting contender in the world of green products, this pair of scissors has a handle made of 70% recycled plastic. But why the transparent plastic cover? A more consistent approach for selling an eco-scissor could simply have done without any plastic cover at all.

Krischef Eco Friendly Paper Tableware

I love products that replace polluting alternatives, and this selection of cups and plates made from sugarcane fibre is one example. Although they are unlikely to replace styrofoam as a food packaging choice in Bali any time soon (did you see the price tag above?), it is encouraging to see them on the market.

Eco Coffee Cup

Although not a bad idea (how often do you buy a coffee and use a single-use, straight-to-the-bin cup?), it would have been nice to see a reusable product that is actually made from used material. Still, one could argue that ceramic material is a more environment-friendly alternative than the old favourite, plastic. Note the original packaging, which adopts earthy colours and makes the product stand out well on the shelf.

Fuel tumblers

Hmmm… a standard-looking product that is swimming in a sea of eco mumbo jumbo? This looks like one of those products that just happens to be an environment-friendly solution (as opposed to single use disposable cups), but which has not undergone major design changes to reduce its environmental impact. So ok, that’s not completely accurate: Fuel claims that its products are BPA free. But would be great if they could substantiate that claim…

If you’re still struggling with the concept of green marketing, but remain committed to greening your business or brand, then you might want to plug in the keywords “green+marketing+grant” on amazon.com.

What you’ll get is The Green Marketing Manifesto by John Grant (Wiley, 2007), which for an easy $12 provides you an intelligent introduction/manual to leverage one of the most significant trends in marketing history.

You can always recognize a smart author when right in the preface, you get pointed to a specific page where the essence of the book is distilled in a few sentences. So let’s go right there.

Grant divides green marketing activities into three kinds:

1. Green – setting new standards, with a focus on communication: the emphasis is on commercial objectives only. The product is greener than alternatives, but the marketing is straightforward about establishing the difference.
2. GreenER – sharing responsibility, with a focus on collaboration: the emphasis is still on commercial objectives, but also environmental ones. Here, marketing activities are focused on consumer behavioural change, e.g. asking them to use your detergent at lower temperatures.
3. GreenEST – supporting innovation, with a focus on cultural reshaping: having cultural objectives as well, whereby new ways of life and new business models look normal and acceptable.

Note (says Grant) that in all three categories, one factor remains unchanged—your product offering must represent a genuine environmental advantage compared to alternative products.

In other words, experimenting with green marketing when your business and brand are no different from the competition in terms of green performance is a no-starter. In this case, you might as well put the book down and start looking at how you can reduce the environmental product of your products and/or services.

Selling the image, a green marketing dead end

But what about execution of the three strategies mentioned above? Assuming you indeed have a genuine green product or service, Grant wants you to know that just selling an image is a marketing dead-end. As he goes on to say, “the old selling an image” model has hit a brick wall of marketing resistance, literacy and cynicism.” What is needed instead is “working with more authentic social meanings and ideas; ones capable of transforming lifestyles and attitudes.”

Re-inventing the brand for the common good

Taking his reasoning a step further, Grant brings down the axe on what he calls classical brand choices (which surround us every day), advocating that they can be shattered and replaced with alternatives ones that emphasize word of mouth, advocacy, community—and where consumers look beyond the label at how and who produced a product, rather than focusing exclusively on what brand it is.

Can the Manifesto be applied in Indonesia?

Ultimately, the Manifesto may be most applicable in those markets where the average consumer has received a higher educated, is in tune with the zeitgeist, and may be cynical about corporations and their credibility.

Now how about in less mature markets, where brands may be taken more at their face value, and where consumers may be less concerned about the relative green performance of their favourite soap brand for example?

Of the three activities mentioned above, I would advocate strategy number 2, GreenER, for the simple reason that Green is just not good enough, and few companies are ready to meet the tough requirements of Greenest (see above definition).

The social focus of many marketing activities in Indonesia (e.g. the ubiquitous ‘fun bike’ events) is a perfect conduit for scaling up behavioural changes that are seen as socially acceptable and beneficial to both the environment and companies. The reason for this is that GreenER marketing thrives on collaboration (think gotong royong), word of mouth and group dynamics. What better way to get the word out on both your product and greener behaviour?

Get a copy of The Green Marketing Manifesto and you may well be inspired to look at your brands in a whole new perspective.

As the consumer goods, building and retailing sectors in Indonesia begin the slow journey towards environmental responsibility (or at least for some, try to look like they are taking that journey), a hazy picture of their green marketing efforts is beginning to take shape.

And depending on how you look at it, its either ugly, promising or frustrating.

What is definite is that this picture is constantly evolving.

First, let’s get definitions out of the way. In this blog, green marketing refers to an approach—the promotion of a product or service using environmental messaging. Note that this is not the same as promoting green products. You can very well rely on green marketing techniques to sell a product that was built with coal, does not biodegrade, is wrapped in plastic etc. Whether you can get away with it is another matter.

So as of January 2011, what can we observe in terms of green marketing trends in Indonesia?

1. Conventional products that are re-branded as green. Twenty years ago, would you have considered your garbage bin and water bottle to be green products? Today, manufacturers are trying to make consumers think that this is the case, and by re-positioning these products (but not making them greener) they are trying to get across to the eco-conscious consumer. The problem? The products are not improved in terms of their environmental performance, and consumers get the impression they are buying from a green company.
2. Environmentally-destructive products that are marketed as green. From apartments and roads to batteries and electronics, some businesses are recklessly painting their products green with either no evidence to back their claim, or with very weak arguments. Latest examples: a new flyover in Jakarta, and an apartment tower that was planned as a conventional building. This is probably the worst kind of green messaging, as it involves taking consumers for idiots and exploiting their lack of awareness of environmental issues. In other words, greenwash.
3. Many products with high potential for authentic green marketing, but that are not marketed as such. Either because of lack of awareness, or because promoting the environmental attributes of the product is not considered a selling point, some genuinely green products are relying on conventional marketing messaging and approaches. As a result, they are missing out on the opportunity to stand out in the marketplace for being good. Examples include traditional foods and handicraft that require limited packaging and little processing.
4. A slow, gradual increase of genuine green products that rely on smart green marketing. Here and there, a number of pioneering initiatives (not always businesses) are slowly carving themselves a market niche with responsibly-designed and manufactured products. Notebooks made from recycled milk cartons. Bricks made from cattle waste. Furniture made from reused wood with chain of custody certification. These products have this in common that they are produced in small quantities and have a low market penetration. But give them enough time and they make more waves.
5. Excessive focus on green messaging using global warming. From reusable shopping bags to cars, there is a strong emphasis on ‘use this product and save the climate.’ The only problem is that we don’t know whether consumers would rather stop global warming or live in a city that has less garbage or smog in it. Another missed opportunity to address consumers’ real concerns and fears, while the product itself does little to combat global warming.
6. Absence of product certification: Whether it is organic food, timber products or seafood, very few goods are marketed using third-party certification such as Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia, Ecocert or Marine Stewardship Council. Yes, certification implies additional costs and in price-sensitive markets, such investments are not considered relevant to what the market is asking for. As the middle class expands and environmental awareness grows, brands will need to differentiate themselves from each other and sustain their credibility—and certification is one option to get there.

Note that this analysis does not consider imported green products, e.g. picture frames made out of recycled wood and paper cups made out of recycled paper. While these products may have a low environmental footprint (apart from the shipping carbon footprint) and be smartly marketed, they are not part of Indonesia’s home-grown industry.

Are you seeing other trends that I am not? Agree or disagree with the above? Either way, make your voice heard if you want to.