Don Carli, the sustainability advocate and the subject of a recent post at PrintCEO.com, continues to draw attention to his message about environmental responsibility for industries that produce or use print. On June 14 in New York City, he led a panel discussion sponsored by his organization, the Institute for Sustainable Communications, for a new coalition called the Sustainable Advertising Partnership. At that event, an audience of more than 100 printers, publishers, suppliers, and ad agency executives heard him explain why sustainability has become a necessary and potentially rewarding business strategy for print-dependent media. Carli was next heard from in a June 22 interview for National Public Radio's Morning Edition, in which he fielded questions from NPR's Renee Montagne. The audio clip of that conversation is available here. (Note to Mac users: you may need to download the latest version of RealPlayer to listen to the file; a link is provided at the NPR site.)
In the interview, Carli says that sustainability – the corporate commitment to recycling, control of greenhouse gas emissions, reduced energy use, and similar practices – has advanced from being a fringe idea on "the margins of marketing" to a stage where it is now recognized as "the central focus of marketing communications and advertising." Sustainability is good for business, but Carli has a warning for those who would greenwash unacceptable behavior with insincere displays of environmental activism. Savvy consumers, he says, won't be fooled: "We live in a world that is one mouse-click away from exposure.""
Discussion
By Bob Lion on Jun 25, 2007
Claims of sustainable practices without certification should have no merit. Today there are more organzations available for certification. Forest Stewardship Council, EPA, Center for Resource Solutions, ISO, just to name a few. If you decide to go green, have the paperwork to backup the claim.
By Lloyd Carr on Jun 25, 2007
Going "green" is a valid business, creative and production strategy for print-dependent media. Applied theory and technology for sustainable initiatives in the lifecycle of a print product or advertising should be part of our print education curriculum.
By Patrick Berger on Jun 26, 2007
Sustainable practices should include the chemicals used for manufacturing. Do these chemicals contain HAPS (Hazardious Air Pollutants)? Do they contain anything on the California Prop 65 list? Do they contain anything from the EPA 313 list? Do they pass CONEG? What is the VOC level? Do the VOC's contribute to ozone? What are the effects on employees from exposure? How long does it take for the chemicals to biodegrade and what do they biodegrade to? What are you incinerating and why? Are there alternatives in chemistry that would reduce or eliminate incineration? If you are incinerating what do you do with the heat? Wind power claims can only be done when the wind generator is directly connected to your facility. When wind power is purchased off of the grid you are using the same percentage of wind power as EVERBODY connected to the power grid. There is no way to differentiate how the power is made once it is connected to the grid. Carbon offsetting is bunk. Either you are or are not a carbon contributor. If your manufacturing process has a negative carbon process then and only then are you carbon offsetting. We chose to plant our vacant 7 acres in beans or corn or hay or wheat on alternating years. This does not provide us with carbon offsetting. It keeps us from having to mow 7 acres of grass.
By Bob Lion on Jun 26, 2007
Green education should start at a young age, grammer school is one of the best starts. Today's children will have a big advantage over their parents with all of the information available to them. But the information must remain true, untainted. These programs should follow through to high school levels. The young print professional should have a firm grasp on sustainable practices before post education.
By Jack Gringo on Jun 27, 2007
Corporations, particularly multinationals, have taken many step backwards in their commitments in this area and while they might do all of the things required in this countries and strict European countries, when they go overseas to places that are less careful with industry polluting the environement. American companies take full advantage of lax regulatory bodies in Latin America, for example, and where they find that it helps the bottom line, they go and pollute. We have seen and heard of chemical and ink companies based here in the USA that should be less than proud of their activities in places in Latin America, locating their factories in the middle of neighborhoods by bribing officials. If it helps the profit and cost saving bonuses that some 5 or 6 guys sitting up in an office in the Northeast, well, they will do it. This has become particularly evident recently as some of the giants in the Ink Industry have been taken over by people by new management from outside the printing industry (cutthroat Chemical company executives are now the Knights in Armour) that are looking to retire early and with great amounts of pocket change and the ethics have changed in what they do with their activities overseas, particularly in Latin America. IT IS SHAMEFUL.