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Who said it isn’t easy being green? OR making environmental sustainability a part of your life and work
Well, Kermit the Frog said it first, many years ago. But things have changed, beginning with what “green” means.
Being aware of environmental responsibility and making it part of your everyday thought process is easy, once you get the hang of it. It’s a commitment, yes, but not necessarily a drag. For most of us, it starts with collecting the newspapers, magazines, bottles, etc., that we use everyday and recycling them on a regular basis. That’s a great beginning that naturally leads to the right mindset, one that can reach all the way to our work and how we communicate.
Communicating well simply means reaching your audience in the way that is most natural and effortless for them with information they will care about enough to spend some time with it.
The choices we have today, as communicators and consumers of information, are more varied and ever-changing, much more so than years ago when television came along and gave radio a run for its money. But it’s not that different, really. We all learn to adapt and listen, watch, read, respond and consider in ways that feel right to us.
The World Wide Web doesn’t spell the end of print communications any more than the ads you see in your phone’s Twitter application spell doom for 15-second radio commercials. More information is coming at us, seemingly 24 hours a day, but we’re still in control of the how, when, where and why.
Your corporate or institutional blog is not the same as a printed and mailed newsletter, and the differences are not just generational. A blog has one kind of personality and a newsletter another, though they have more in common with each other than either do with an annual report.
Back to being green. Taking the first step on the road to communicating in a way that is responsible to the environment is also a step toward communicating well. Don’t print if your message is better conveyed online, but don’t think that printed communications are all now unnecessary. The following quote is one from an earlier blog post entitled “If print is dead, who killed it?” but it bears repeating:
Print has substance and weight—it is in my hand; it is reality. Print has texture and thus affects more senses.
Print is one channel in a multi-channel world. Once, it was the only channel. Its role today is to integrate with other media and deliver results for its users. Too many marketers see an either/or role for print and other media.
Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, School of Print Media, Rochester Institute of Technology, quoted in “Print with Purpose,” published by Appleton Coated
Once you’ve decided to print, carefully consider the diverse choices you have today for paper containing recycled fiber and manufactured in environmentally responsible ways (using renewable energy and maintaining chain-of-custody through such organizations as the Forest Stewardship Council). Work with your printer—who should be rigorous in their sustainability efforts as well, using vegetable-based inks and keeping an eye on their carbon footprint—to find the best choice for your project (paper choice and digital versus offset).
And lastly, tell the world about it! Include language about the recycled paper you’re using, the wind power used in its manufacture, etc. Pass the word along so that everyone will know how easy it is to be green.
Categories Design, Digital Media, Outside the Square, Strategy and Management
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And what’s to come—printable materials that down cycle. In other words, somewhere in our future there will be a way (if people continue to recognize the importance of such a cause, which I have all faith they will) to design materials that can be manufactured to come apart seamlessly. The ink and paper separated and reused without losing any integrity. No waste. Pick up “Cradle to Cradle”, it’s a great resource for the future of sustainable living.