Melodies in Marketing

New Toy Safety Law Will Likely Become Law - As reported by the Chicago Tribune, it would “require manufacturers and importers to subject toys and other nursery products to strict safety tests before they hit store shelves.” Secondly, “the legislation would phase in a near-ban on lead in products designed for children 12 and younger and create an easily searchable database of consumer complaints about a product’s safety. The law would set an allowable lead standard of 600 parts per million within 180 days, 300 ppm after one year, and 100 ppm after three years. The precise amount of lead that can cause harm in a child remains a matter of debate. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission would review the limit and could lower it still further.” For more info on additional measures of this sweeping reform, see the article.
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Canadian Green Guides - The Canadian Competition Bureau and Standards Association put together a set of guidelines and best practices for businesses making environmental claims.
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UN Global Compact Delists 630 Companies since January of this year, for failing to annually communicate to stakeholders their progress in adopting the Compact’s 10 principles. During the same time, they’ve enlisted an additional 701 new companies.
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US EPA Blog - That’s right…a unified effort from a group of EPA bloggers.
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Cotton’s Need for Guides - During the latest hearing on revising the FTC Green Guides, representatives from the cotton industry association, organic farmers, and others expressed their concerns for responsible claims and accurate consumer perception.
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Seattle imposes shopping bag fee - The City Council has approved a 20cent charge on disposable paper or plastic shopping bags, going into effect in Jan. 09. Same time next year, certain styrofoam containers will be banned.
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Truckers Association sue LA Ports for Anti-Pollution Program - The objective is to reduce diesel fuel pollution. Part of the measures include banning pre-1989 model trucks from both ports this fall; trucks older than 2007 models will be denied access beginning in 2012. Secondly, trucking companies are to hand over more information about their operational procedures. The main contention the truckers association has is that the port of LA will deny independent truckers access to their port beginning October 1 (the port of Long Beach however, will continue to allow them in).
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City of Portland, Commercial Food Composting Program - Includes set-up assistance, employee training, free collection containers, educational materials, and customer recognition assistance.
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Solar Windows from MIT - Neat! “By pushing light to the edges and filtering it, they can concentrate the light and squeeze more electricity from photovoltaic solar cells.”
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Map of Future Forces Affecting Sustainability -By the Institute for the Future, for another organization. The link above highlights the summary. This link to the presentation series, includes video (but you might want to use Internet Explorer because clicking on a slide caused my Firefox to unexpectedly close).
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Former EPA Leader Gives Oversight Roadmap for Nanotech - [Meant for the next US presidential administration], “measures include defining nanomaterials as ‘new’ substances under federal toxics and food laws, thereby enabling the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration to consider the novel qualities and effects of nanomaterials. Davies also calls for federal pesticide and workplace safety laws to be used to protect against potential adverse impacts of nanomaterials.”
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Concern over Perfluorooctanoic Acid in Food Packaging Leads to Proposed California Legislation - This article by the LA Times highlights the concern about this chemical (officially known as an industrial surfactant), used as a liner on product packaging including application on Teflon pans, which the EPA wants companies to voluntarily stop using by 2015. In 2006, Eight companies including DuPont vowed to replace PFOA. A California congressman has proposed bill SB 1313, which would ban the chemical by 2010.
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Half of Canada’s Boreal Forests to be Protected - from mining and other resource development projects.
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The Need for Using More Recycled Paper - Triple Pundit wrote up a terrific article highlighting multiple facts and sources about US paper production, consumption, and the state of recycling. Check it out.
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Au Revoir !

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It’s a complex, multifaceted topic.

Modern forests are being ‘managed’ like crops, but environmentalists claim monocultures are bad. The Forest Stewardship Council is gaining prominence in certifying forests for paper companies to harvest. While their leadership is commendable, participation in their programs is voluntary (although fast becoming an excellent affiliation for marketing and CSR purposes). Another similar organization, but without nearly the same level of appeal and credibility, is the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Production uses a LOT of water and results in much air pollution/emissions. While printers/fabricators’ techniques obviously vary, they and their products can be FSC certified too. But their production volume is based on customer demand.

Examples of wasteful consumption can be seen through massive amounts of direct mail marketing (particularly in the U.S.), paper cups used only for 15 minutes, and office documents most of which don’t live beyond one day.

Recycling is nice, but how widespread is it? We’re looking at a systems design of separation, collection, separation, sales, and ??? (wherever it goes). For practical matters, let’s assume most of it goes to China like most other lower-grade scrapped resources around the world. Lastly, even recycled paper needs virgin fibers to maintain quality performance & appearance attributes desired by customers.

Here’s an 11min video from World Rainforest Movement on the paper industry. Most of the material seems reasonable and objective.
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First off, I must ask…What is up with Finland and their higher per capita consumption that the U.S.? Ah well, at least you get a basic idea of SOME issues involved in paper production & consumption now, hopefully to the point where it hasn’t spoiled your day. It’s not my interest to be all preachy to you and mandate using ceramic cups in the office, printing double-sided, or starting a paper collection bin. But I will advise you to do some data-scrubbing to your databases for direct mail purposes, and use some form of recycled paper for your interoffice and print marketing needs. My goal is creating awareness without making you feel burnt out and frustrated (which many environmental causes can tend to do) - but rather make you beam positivity and employ pragmatic action that affects your well-being and your bottom line.

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Gurminder Singh, the Co-Chairman of the Green Technology Institute at UCLA, assists US-based green, clean and environmental companies to explore and invest in India’s growing economy. In this brief discussion, he shares his thoughts on climate change and greenhouse gas sources.

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{ As reported by Californians Against Waste }

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PVC packaging phase out - The California Ocean Protection Council, an organization created by Governor Schwarzenegger, called for the banning of vinyl chloride packaging which is toxic in all stages of its lifecycle. PVC production involves large amounts of dangerous chlorine gas, as well as vinyl chloride, a dangerous carcinogen. Its production is responsible for at least one superfund site in California and studies have linked it with high cancer rates. In the home, PVC packaging can leach its many toxins through contact with the mouth, and may also shed these particles into the air to be inhaled. These include phthalates, which mimic human hormones and cause abnormal growth and heavy metals such as Lead and Cadmium, which cause brain damage in very small amounts. Once disposed, PVC packaging is not recycled. In fact, PVC packaging is a potent and expensive contaminant in the recycling streams of other, nontoxic plastic packaging, preventing municipalities from recycling more. When landfilled or littered PVC packaging leaches its toxins into the surrounding toxins.AB 2505 will prevent human and environmental exposure to toxins, as well as encourage the recycling of consumer packaging. The bill would phase out the use of PVC consumer packaging beginning 2013 and concluding 2015. Currently AB 2505 is in the Senate Appropriations committee’s suspense file, which will be opened in early August.

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Expanding California’s Bottle and Can Recycling Law - SB 1625 aims to significantly reduce the amount of plastic litter pollution entering our marine environment by expanding the scope of California’s successful Bottle and Can Recycling Law to include all plastic bottles. Plastic marine debris pollution is a serious and growing problem, the source of which is right here on land. Up to 80% of marine debris pollution consists of plastic from urban litter. Containers under California’s Bottle and Can Recycling Law are littered less than other plastic items because they have a redemption value. However, because plastics are the fastest growing component of the waste stream, only about 50% of plastic bottles are currently covered by California’s Bottle and Can Recycling Law. Expanding the program to include all plastic bottles will significantly reduce plastic litter pollution, and will result in the recycling of more than 3 billion additional plastic bottles, reducing littered and landfilled plastic waste by 130,000 tons annually and providing local governments with an additional $100 million dollars annually. Currently the bill is also in the Senate Appropriations committee’s suspense file. Let’s hope this gets passed because any means to reduce packaging including incentives for recycling, is a great idea. I like the economic minded potential, but a big issue is if & where plastic classifications can be recycled. Facilities vary in their abilities.

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Phased Plastic Bag Diversion and Reduction Benchmarks for Grocers & Pharmacies - AB 2058 aims to build upon the success of California’s In-Store Plastic Bag Recycling Law (AB 2449 Levine 2006) by requiring retailers to meet a specified plastic bag diversion requirement. Plastic bag litter is a serious problem that kills thousands of sea birds every year. Cleanup of plastic bags costs local governments millions, especially in areas affected by US EPA zero maximum daily water load limits for trash. Under AB 2058, retailers would be required to demonstrate 70% diversion by July, 2011. If either goals are not met, retailers will be required to charge a 25 cent per bag fee, the proceeds of which are to be used for local litter clean-up. This approach has reduced plastic bag consumption in Ireland by over 90%. In order to assure the bill does not substitute one disposable bag for another, grocers will be required to distribute paper bags at an equal fee after 2011. AB 2058 also allows local governments to require additional fees.

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Lewis Green asked the following question to his readers in this post:

Sustainability is Hot! Are you? What does it mean to have a Sustainable Brand and/or be a green company? Do today’s businesses, some of whom are rushing to be labeled green, get it? Is authenticity key or can a company use marketing to get consumers to see they are green?

With some great responses you can read from his post, here is mine:

It means to be both environmentally conscious and be economically minded, through extreme efficiency and a goal of zero waste in operations, manufacturing, marketing, and product development. Setting goals and auditing to meet performance metrics will determine progress.

Authenticity and transparency are important. The degree to which you want to promote it though, will be up to the organization and the circumstances. In many cases, companies are already being responsible in their supply chain or other areas. The point is then to responsibly create an awareness program that at least states the facts, as part of a public relations package on corporate social responsibility. For other firms that are seizing the market opportunity on sustainability, obviously their communications are much stronger on the green/clean message. But their responsibility toward ethical communications remain the same.

But when the product is supposed to be green/sustainable, one must naturally be careful and not claim superfluous attributes that are vague. Perhaps the deep truth is real. In that case, marketing copy, language and graphic design has to be carefully constructed so as not to be critically/vaguely perceived. Third party audits and certifications are helpful, but only to the degree that the third party is recognized and credible. There is literally a fight going on among organizations that want to claim their label as being the best. Much of it is ego-driven, but most of it is about money. The labels with the most recognition and adoption by reputable companies will win. However, the government is the largest purchaser of most goods. It’s their actions to really watch under the radar, because although they’re slow as dinosaurs, they have a responsibility to the public to be very fair and objective. I’m still talking about product-orientation, everything else is CSR related and another world of its own.

Much of this reminds me of health food marketing. But claims like “99% fat free” (by weight doh!), won’t work in the green space because misleading claims are going to be found out about, blogged on, and criticized by others (and the competition).

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What do YOU think?

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Where there is concern for personal health, and most importantly the health of infants and children, there is a market opportunity.

The Adiri Natural Nurser is an award winning baby bottle that is Bisphenol-A free, and is probably best described in the words of its founders as such:

“Designed with the help of doctors, moms and lactation consultants, the AdiriTM Natural NurserTM is the ultimate baby bottle. With reduced air ingestion, unparalleled ease of use, a graceful design and 100% polycarbonate-free materials, the Natural Nurser is a safer, simpler, more natural feeling, bottlefeeding experience for your baby, and for you.”

Yes, this is indeed a product that has a simple but elegant design. From a product marketing point of view, it is capitalizing on a real & growing societal concern about the relative safety of particular plastics (U.S. #7). And that my friends, is beautiful innovation in practice. The application is for something so highly regarded by parents anywhere in the world: the health of their children.

I would like to use this product as an example of innovation tied to a specific cultural value. Could we use the word ‘sustainable‘ or ‘green‘ in this case? Why sure, but by themselves they would be subjective and meaningless. Jacquelyn Ottman and other so called ‘green marketers‘ like myself, will happily tell you that there is no such thing as a ‘green‘ product.

The Point: Develop and market better products that provide customers with an improved value proposition, user experience, and benefits conferred, while appealing to relevant values that matter. If it happens to have an ecological advantage over competitive products, so much the better.

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[Video Link for Email/Other Subscribers - 7min]

Last week, my friend May Hsu asked me to help produce an 7min interview with Tom Stout, who we met up with at one of his recent home projects. Although the subject of green homes & gardens is fairly new to me, I did find the learning experience to be interesting. Secondly, I discovered that my wide angle lens attachment can tend to mess with auto-focus in small areas. Lastly I found that while the speakers did do an okay job, the initial topical run-through and rehearsal vastly improved the filming experience and kept the scope of the video in awareness.

You can see some beautiful garden design pictures and learn more about Tom’s business at StoutLandscape.com

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