The Mediavore's Dilemma: Making Sustainable Media Choices

Read Don Carli's article in Mediashift on the environmental dilemma facing media buyers.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/06/the-mediavores-dilemma-making-sustainable-media-choices152.html Read More...
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The Carbon Trust explain Carbon Product Labeling to the Marketing Community

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Print community clocks up CO2counter

One month after its launch and printers are continuing to consult new research from RMIT on the carbon impacts of paper manufacture. Read the full article in Print 21
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The path to the independent and honest measurement of carbon emissions in printing

The printing industry is doing a much better job of reducing its environmental footprint than many of the other marketing channels available in this use-now –and-throwaway society.

The trouble is they don’t believe you. The substrate you use was once a home for a cuddly koala so no amount of Green Star Ratings or ISO14001 logos will make a difference . They hold the keys to the marketing coffers and currently they are not going to spend what they once did on paper-based communications.

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Tread lightly on the path to green marketing

More food for thought for marketers who think simply switching from paper to on-line will tick all their green corporate boxes. See the podcast from Don Carli at The Institute For Sustainable Communications
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Carbon impacts of paper manufacture literature review study

The Gaia Partnership commissioned the Centre for Design at RMIT University to provide an overview of life cycle assessment studies (both local and international) focussing on carbon impacts related to the manufacturing of paper. Carbon Impacts of paper manufacture literature review by RMIT
View more documents from Christopher Sewell.
" rel="self">Read the full report Read More...
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A Simple Guide to Climate Change


Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.



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How Green is Aussie Media?

The environmental footprints of media companies have left deep indents on green audits carried out globally. Australia’s media claims to be doing the right thing, but are they? Sophia Russell from B&T checks out the landscape.
Transcript from 'The Green Guide' published October 16th 2009
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Carbon neutrally. Isn't it just cheating?

This great send up of the whole carbon neutrally proposition should be duly noted by companies that just want the problem to go away.
Remember the focus should always be on measurement & reduction
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Green-washing. How to tread carefully on a planet full of environmental land-mines

I wait with interest for the final release of Australia's AANA’s environmental code of conduct.

The aim is to produce an advertisers guide on how to sell a “Green’ product with a shrinking marketing spend, to a hesitant and fast becoming cynical environmentally aware buyer.
Now that’s what I call a Herculean task.
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The dangers of being tainted by the 'Carbon Neutral' tag

Engaging a carbon auditor (definitely a species that is not on the endangered list) to take a look at your books and have a stroll around your company is a very fashionable exercise these days. The result is a report that shows the shoe size of your carbon footprint.




Now that you are enlightened as to the contribution you are making to world pollution and global warming, you can walk around any given corner and run into a gaggle of carbon off-setters who will magically change your CO2 into a majestic stand of whispering casuarinas. All for the price of just a few pieces of gold. Read More...
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Are carbon offsets the first refuge of rogues?

In this special audio presentation Chris Sewell who also is Business Director for TrinityP3 consulting services, sits down with David Crew of On Paper to talk about the explosion of marketing businesses claiming ‘Carbon neutrality’ as a marketing position while not understanding that offsets are the first refuge of rogues. Chris is passionate about reducing carbon emissions in the business he knows - advertising.

http://papertellsastory.com/2008/11/07/sustaincommworld-live-with-christopher-sewell/
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Greening the internet by the Americans?

What are these green painted bike paths doing in the middle of Manhattan? Was the land of consumption really starting to care about the state of the planet? Read More...
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Advertiser’s Carbon Footprint equivalent to 380,000,000 cars

According to my calculations marketing communication globally is responsible for over 500 million tonnes of CO2-e per year and is forecast to grow by over 5 percent every year thereafter.

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The carbon impact of printing. A simple guide

1. Paper. Manufacturing of paper stock is the biggest cause of carbon in the supply chain. It accounts for over 70% of the footprint in most printing processes. Reviewing your paper stock specifications to a lower carbon emitting paper is the quickest way to reduce your footprint. Do not be misled by the carbon neutral label. Ask about the energy source. Read More...
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Big Brother's shrinking carbon footprint from it's rating demise.

As the station bosses worried themselves, then the show into an early grave, there is some good news.

Big Brother was contributing over 1.5 tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere for each 30 seconds of viewing during the peak of the latest series.
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IT industry's carbon footprint equal to aviation's

The lack of comment from the IT industry on the new Carbon Age has been suspicious in it's absence. And for good reason. Read More...
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Carbon emission reduction NOT Carbon neutral

Having just returned from the UK it is interesting to reflect on the differences between the approaches to carbon emissions.

In the UK they have had a government who recognized the issue of climate change earlier and therefore legislated to force behavioral change.

While not way ahead of Australia, one of the things that I noticed, and liked, was the growing skepticism towards the carbon neutral claim.

The focus is now on standards for product labeling of emissions.

Consumers can make a choice not only on price and quality but also the amount of emissions the product produces.
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The Hidden Carbon Culprit

The paper industry continues to cop the brunt of the environmentalist anger when it comes to the evils of carbon emissions. Some of this is justified. But there is another CO2 monster lurking in the office.

Marketers tend have a simplistic catch-cry of ‘move away from paper based communications and go on-line’. So let’s have a look at some basic facts and figures about on-line.

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Beware of the carbon neutral lure

In Australia there has been a rapid growth of marketing services companies claiming ‘carbon neutrality’, and built-in offsets’.

Regardless of how many trees you pay to plant the point is the emissions are still occurring in the first place.
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The perils of claiming the Green high ground

Slowly but surely examples of bad luck or bad management of a company’s environmental positioning are creeping into the media. Read More...
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Green-washers beware: Tesco show the the correct way to market their eco direction

I have just read with interest the news from Tesco where they are showing the amount of carbon that is being generated between 'seed and store' on 20 of their items.

Yes they are maximizing the marketing mileage of this by telling everyone that they are acting in an environmentally responsible way.

To me this transparency is to be applauded. They are talking about the good things they are doing and at the same time not being afraid to show the world the amount of carbon they are putting out in the process. Let's hope this lead is followed.
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The Hidden Carbon Culprit

The paper industry continues to cop the brunt of the environmentalist anger when it comes to the evils of carbon emissions. Some of this is justified. But there is another CO2 monster lurking in the office.

Marketers tend have a simplistic catch-cry of ‘move away from paper based communications and go on-line’. So let’s have a look at some basic facts and figures about on-line.  Read More...
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Comparing Carbon emissions

With all the new terms appearing around the world of greenhouse gases it is hard to keep up. Carbon offsets, carbon trading, carbon neutral and green washing are a few of the more common that are being bandied around.

When looking at the world of marketing communications it starts to get harder to know if you are doing the 'right thing'. 
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