KeepGreenGoing

Especially interesting from a marketing point of view, here is a short summary of the recent Dove –> Greenpeace –> Backlash –> Social Change chain-of-events.

First: Dove, in an ongoing move to position itself as a “positive body image” brand in a beauty-focused industry, created an ad. The spot, titled “Onslaught,” powerfully illustrates the way media images in culture bombard women from a young age resulting in unrealistic perceptions of beauty.

Then: Greenpeace saw a chance to loudly call ‘foul.’ They created an “Onslaught” parody ad depicting the destruction of Indonesian rainforests for palm oil, a key ingredient in Dove (and many other company’s) products. This segment, which swaps a cute, dark-haired (presumably Indonesian) girl for the cute, red-haired one from the Dove original, is titled “Onslaught(er).”

Within a week: “Onslaught(er)” was viewed over 250,000 times after being posted on Youtube. Perhaps speaking to the power and quality of the ad, response was strong.

Today: The Wall Street Journal reports that Unilever, the parent company that owns and operates Dove, has pledged to only buy palm oil from suppliers able to prove they haven’t cut down forests.

While it’s fantastic that Dove is changing its ways, many companies use palm oil in their products. The assumption is that at least some (maybe a majority) are getting it from forest-destroying suppliers. So while it doesn’t provide the full picture when Greenpeace singles out Dove as a target, it is amazing to stand back and watch a campaign like this work so quickly and effectively.

Did you know that when you eat beans rather than beef you use 1/27 the amount of fossil fuel to produce the equivalent nutritional/caloric value? Here is the story folks - eating as much factory farmed meat as we do in the United States is environmental suicide. Here are a couple points from earthsave.org:

• Cattle produce one fifth of the methane emissions in the world (were talking cow farts, has anyone ever driven through Greeley Colorado?) Did I mention, with regards to global warming, methane is 24 times more potent as the carbon dioxide that we are familiar with?
• We loose acre after acre of rain forest each day all in the name of the almighty burger.
• Over two thirds of the land (private and public) in the mountain states, my dearest Colorado included, are used for grazing. This poorly managed grazing has a disastrous effect on our natural resources from irrigation concerns to erosion.
• 284 gallons of oil are burned up in the production of one head of cattle.
• By conservative estimates 2,500 gallons of water goes into the production of one pound of beef.

If you are a meat eating fellow like myself you are probably feeling more than a little bit guilty at this point. Good. We should feel guilty; the consumption of factory/farm raised beef is a leading contributor, if not the leading contributor, in the collapse of the environment. Where does that leave us, should we just give up meat all together? Maybe… as Bryan had alluded to earlier, I’ve begun what I will call an experiment in vegetarianism. Over the coming days I will provide a couple posts including my journal and thoughts on my time spent as a vegetarian moving from an omnivore with carnivores tendencies. Let the experiment begin…

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Often, the green community enjoys discussing tips on going green, new green products out on the market and companies that are making a green impact. Today’s article speaks more on a humanitarian level. It speaks about making a difference in a community through a simple, practical device. Sometimes, the first step for people to go green requires them to be enabled through a simple solution.

The Hippo Roller, from Project H Design, does just that. It frees up people’s time for more productive economic activities.

The Hippo Roller is a simple rolling barrel device that allows communities that depend on the daily fetching of water to more easily access and transport their daily water supply, and reduce the risk of long-term bodily injuries. The roller holds 3-4 days worth of water for a family of 7, which is 5 times the amount of water that can be moved using traditional methods.

The Hippo Roller gives going green a whole new meaning. It enables communities by the masses, it’s a very simple device and it’s practical. Most importantly, it keeps the green life going. What intrigues me the most about the Hippo Roller is its impact for the greater good of a community.

Read on»

Bamboo this, bamboo that - What’s up with the bamboo buzz?

Technically classified as a “weed”, the bamboo plant is strong, renewable and inexpensive. There are nearly 1000 different species of bamboo and it can be grown in almost any moderate climate. Bamboo can grow 20 meters in less than 60 days.

However, extremely fast growth is not bamboo’s only environmentally friendly virtue. Bamboo also helps repair the devastating effects of deforestation and mining to soil and communities. Bamboo actually removes toxins from soil, prevents erosion and provides jobs and food for many people.

It thrives in a diverse landscape up to 12,000 feet and releases 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees. Bamboo is the strongest plant known to humankind.

Bamboo is also extremely versatile. It has thousands of uses, from paper to clothing, fences, construction, chop sticks, flooring, musical instruments - the list is endless.

Furthermore, when manufacturing solid hardwood flooring from plantation timber, only 20-25% is used. Bamboo flooring, on the other hand, uses over 90% of the bamboo plant with no wastage.

Its strength-to-weight ratio is better than graphite. The US Navy even used bamboo to reinforce concrete in World War II.

In conclusion, the buzz about bamboo is quite legit. If you have the opportunity to buy things bamboo, we say go for it. Buy bamboo and keep the green going.

If you’re like me, you get sick of hearing about how to go green. Everyday there’s companies pushing messages at you about what you should and shouldn’t be doing to go green. With 3000 messages hitting the average person a day and $620 billion spent each year in advertising… that’s a lot of greenness to take in.

Well, when you’re going through the closets and doing your spring-cleaning, don’t toss it, GIGO it! Here’s a company that takes a new approach to recycling - a practical, realistic and effective way to reuse things you don’t need.

Gigo it (’gi-gO it) is a two-word phrase comprised of the words “gigo” and “it”. “Gigo” is pronounced “Gi” as in gift and “go” as in the word go. Gigoit.org is a free online service designed to help people get rid of reusable items by putting them in the hands of people who want them. The catch? There is none. Anyone who post on Gigoit.org is offering the item up for free. The end result keeps usable items out of landfills and in the hands of people who need your stuff. Essentially, it’s an online donation community. You can search by distance from your location or view the most recently added items. Read on»

Local or organic? What’s more important? Supporting the farmer’s market or ensuring you have the USDA stamp? Both types of food make a great impact on the environment and both are worth buying. Here’s a little more info on each:

Local Food

Buying local food, such as local produce, meat and dairy is an exceptional way to support your local economy. By purchasing food from local farmers, business owners and local coffee shops, more of your money will get reinvested back into the community. Locally grow food is often produced by small farmers, many which follow organic farming methods but may not be able to afford organic certification.

Another benefit to buying local food is you don’t have to pay as much for the food to be packaged and transported to you. The average piece of produce sold in the United States travels 1500 miles before arriving on the shelves. If you buy local you help decrease the demand for shipping produce from far away.

Ultimately, buying local means buying fresh. Local produce usually tastes great and it hasn’t been sitting on a truck for the past couple of days. Buying local is a great way to support your local economy and keep money in your own community.

Read on»

The United States is the world’s top consumer nation. Americans spend about four times more per person than any other country. And let’s face it - we do it largely by shopping. On average, every American shops everyday for about 24 minutes. Per year, we spend somewhere around $4 trillion. That’s a lot of money. And think about this… A new car is made every second, 2.3 million shoes are purchased every day and 2. 6 billion toys are bought every year. Through marketing and advertising (I should know, I work at an advertising agency) the psychology of shopping is embedded deep into our brains. The real question I always wonder - where does all that stuff go?

Each of us produces about 4.54 pounds of trash every day through our consumption and disposal habits. This amounts to 1657 pounds per person per year. That’s a lot of disposal. Also consider that every month 100,000 CDs are tossed and 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are scattered throughout the country’s landfills every year. It can easily be said that we’re a disposable society - we use tons of materials, water and energy to make the things we buy - only to discard of them later.

With over 6.6 billion people on this earth doing lots of buying, shopping poses a real threat. So where does all “this stuff” come from? It’s manufactured. The manufacturing industry alone sucks 1/3 of the energy and 13 percent of the water supply in the United States. With all this in mind, here are three simple steps from “The Green Book” to keep green going when shopping:

Read on»