The Inspired Economist

Smart Marketing = Greener Printing for J. C. Penney

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:43:30 +0000

One of the terrific things about greening a print marketing program is that many of the best practices in marketing today have “green” as a by-product.

Take the example of J. C. Penney, which made marketing headlines today when it announced that it would be discontinuing its semi-annual Big Book catalog after the Fall-Winter 09 season. Over the years, J. C. Penney was finding that its catalog was less a direct selling channel than a way to prime the pump for online sales. Instead of wasting volumes of paper, ink, and coating — not to mention the fossil fuels to deliver the 800-1000-page books — it decided to slim things down.

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Viewing the world as a system will help us establish sustainability

Scott Cooney — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:56:06 +0000

Paul Hawken was the keynote speaker at the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in San Francisco on Thursday. He had some inspiring talking points (the forum’s goal was to ‘reinspire the inspired’), but one of the key takeaways was in how we should be viewing sustainability. He started by saying that sustainability should be viewed as a easily defineable. Sustainability means we survive. Living unsustainably means we don’t. But it was how he suggested we view this that was really interesting.

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America’s Mecca: the Mall of America

John Ivanko — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:18:41 +0000

The only thing I could easily find in the whole place — with a “Made in the USA” label — was underwear. What I didn’t expect to find, was a mall heated by the sun (and body heat).

Forget the “conservative right” or “liberal left.” If America has a religion, it’s that of the consumption culture that has become the centerpiece for our economy. Now 70 percent of our GNP is based on its citizens purchasing stuff, on credit cards or otherwise.

This religion of consumption has its Mecca, too, called the Mall of America. A concept designed and constructed by the Triple Five Group — a privately held corporation owned by the Ghermezian brothers of Canada — Mall of America attracts more than 42 million visitors a year with their retail stores, restaurants, Nickelodeon Universe amusement park and Underwater Adventures Aquarium. While Mall of America is the most visited mall in the world, Triple Five Group also owns the biggest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall.

Just for fun, I set out to find something that was made in America (and, ideally, without negatively impacting the environment). No, I didn’t think this was an insane goose chase. After all, more and more ecopreneurs I write about in ECOpreneuring are seeking to sell their “green products” through more conventional retail outlets – even big box stores and chains. That’s why Seventh Generation toilet paper can be now found at your local supermarket and nearly everyone, it seems, sells compact fluorescent bulbs these days. Perhaps one or two products might be here, in America’s megamall composed of 520 stores and 50 restaurants – housed under 4.2 million square feet of enclosed roof space. My odds should be good.

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Brighter Planet Bribing Us For Our Opinions…How Lame…Me First, Me First!

Scott Cooney — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:44:47 +0000

A Vermont-based company called Brighter Planet seems to think the green consumer will just give away our opinions for the chance to win $200. Since I just completed the survey, I’m going to go ahead and guess they’re right!

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Carbon Footprint Reduction Web Conference to Be Held December 3rd

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:37:18 +0000

As climate change legislation makes its way through Congress and stakeholders increase pressure on businesses and government to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, AltaTerra Research will be hosting the web conference “Carbon Footprint Reduction for the Long Haul.” This event will be held Thursday, December 3rd at 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST and will feature a case study of carbon management software implementation by the City of Palo Alto, California.

From the experience of the City of Palo Alto, participants will gain independent, real-world information on how to approach and plan for implementation of a carbon management system. Karl Van Orsdol, sustainability leader and energy risk manager for the City of Palo Alto, will describe the city’s recent experience implementing carbon management software (from Hara Software, Inc), including a discussion of target reduction goals, motivating factors, system selection and implementation, new processes and organizational responsibilities, key challenges, and achievement of $300-600,000 in annual cost savings.

For a broader look at carbon management information systems as a rapidly emerging solution class, Don Bray, president of AltaTerra Research will provide background analysis on business drivers, concepts, practices and system capabilities. “Palo Alto’s experience demonstrates that manually gathering baseline information and using spreadsheets to calculate and track results is not sustainable,” said Mr. Bray. “Achieving meaningful, long-term reductions in resource use, emissions, and associated dollars requires new processes, tools, and operating responsibilities.”

Further information and registration for the event are available by clicking here.

Like this post? See all my “Greening Print Marketing” posts.

Image: Courtesy of The Stock Exchange (image uploaded by hisks)

Interview of Margot Fraser, Founder of Birkenstock USA

Scott Cooney — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:43:33 +0000

Deborah Nelson, Executive Director of the Social Venture Network, interviewed Margot Fraser, founder and former CEO of Birkenstock USA, as part of the Green America Green Business Conference about the latter’s success in business, and her new book, Dealing with the Tough Stuff.

Nelson’s first question was a great one, and right to the point for the current economic crisis: what did you struggle with at the beginning?

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A Passion for Fish and the Planet: Passionfish Restaurant

John Ivanko — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:21:54 +0000

Some people say you eat with our eyes. At Passionfish restaurant in Pacific Grove, California, you do so with your heart — at a place where the local is celebrated, showcased, and conserved. Sometimes, savoring a meal can nurture our body while helping preserve or restore the planet. One day, every meal will be consumed this way.

While my family and I make every effort to eat local and lower on the food chain – mostly vegetarian – when we travel, we occasionally become “flexitarians” and enjoy a seafood dish or two when we’re at the edge of a vast ocean, perhaps with a wharf at the end of the street. At Passionfish, a restaurant nestled in the scenic Monterey Peninsula just a mile from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we connected with the Pacific Ocean by both its salty breeze and through the food we savored.

Opening in 1997, Passionfish is the brainchild of Chef Ted Walter and his wife Cindy Walter. Besides being restaurateurs, the Walters’ might as well be called “marine activists.” This dynamic duo have ambitions of changing the world by educating people about what they eat, especially if what they eat comes from the sea. Using their restaurant as the alluring (and delicious) platform, the couple promotes sustainable seafood as well as locally sourced, fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. Even their meat products are pasture-raised.

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People? Planet? Or Profits?

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:55:57 +0000

I’ve written a lot in these posts about print vs. electronic media and the sustainability issues faced by both (yes, both! electronic media aren’t as green as people think). Now you can investigate more deeply for yourself. On November 17, Target Marketing and Printing Impressions will offer a webinar titled “Paper or Electronic? The Impact of Choices.”

Speakers will be:

Don Carli
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Sustainable Communications

Brian Kozlowski
Director, Sustainable Development
NewPage Corp.

This free webinar will discuss the tools, processes, and success stories that exist to help direct marketers determine not only which media best fit the job at hand but also how to improve the carbon footprint of all channels.

Topics to be discussed include:

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Green: Mainstream, Sticky, but Not Deep

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:20:41 +0000

What is the current state of the consumer on the issue of green products? Grail Research, which recently conducted a survey of 500 consumers on issues related to the purchase of green products, refers to green as mainstream and sticky, but not deep.

According to the study, “The Green Revolution” (September 2009),

84% of consumers say that either some or most of the products they purchase are green (mainstream)
Only 1% say that they used to buy green products but no longer do (sticky)
Only 8% of consumers make green the primary factor in their purchase decisions (not deep)

The number one reason people are deterred from buying green products? They are perceived as being too expensive, with 69% of respondents giving this answer. Forty percent view green products as not offering enough variety and choice.

What is the difference between the moderately interested (light green consumers) and the very committed (dark green consumers)?

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Harry Potter Sports an Environmental Audit

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:11:47 +0000

Did you notice something different on the back pages of The Order of the Phoenix? If you live in the Canadian market, you might. The fifth book in the Harry Potter series has something unusual on its back pages. It’s an environmental audit.

The audit, produced using New Leaf Paper’s Eco Audit Calculator, uses New Leaf EcoBook paper, which uses 100% postconsumer waste. This is something new in the book market, which is normally so sensitive to price.

While the paper does cost more than virgin, these costs are offset by the extreme environmental benefits of switching to paper made with 100% postconsumer fiber. Because virgin paper costs less than recycled papers, the book industry has traditionally gone almost exclusively with virgin stocks. But Scholastic decided to make an environmental statement — a big one.

According to the audit, on the 950,000 print run, this simple switch resulted in a savings of 29,600 trees, 12.4 million gallons of water, 20,300 BTUs of energy, 1.4 million pounds of solid waste, and 2.7 million pounds of greenhouse gases. That’s more than just a drop in the bucket.

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