I’m not sure what to think about this.
On one hand, the combination of girl power and green sensibilities sounds like a force to be reckoned with. (Like!)
But on the other hand, the language used to market the book sounds flimsy and faddish (FAIL). What do you think?
Those of you who read Shiny Green Button regularly know that one of our favorite subjects is the corporate social responsibility or sustainability report. If you ask us, these documents can—and should—do more than compile data.
They should engage consumers and employees. They should inspire action among business partners and competitors. They should bolster brands and show value to investors.
But, just like any other kind of writing, CSR reports can only accomplish these goals if people read them. And that means the information in them should be clear, compelling, relevant and interesting.
If you’ve been following Pamela’s series on our company green team, you know that in 2009, we began looking at how we could make our own business more sustainable.
We’re a small business, but we found big ways to make a difference, and we learned some valuable lessons as we went along. When it came time to share our results, we saw a chance to rethink the standard corporate responsibility report and stretch our creative muscles.
The result is an interactive, data-rich, narrative-driven story that not only reveals what we did, but addresses the challenges we faced in getting there.
We may be a bunch of creative types who spend most of the day at our desks, but we know we can make our world better. Here’s proof.
Let us know what you think!
I had the pleasure of sitting next to Scot Case from TerraChoice at dinner a few nights ago. Scot is one of the authors of “The Six Sins of Greenwashing” (now seven). He told the story of the happy accident that led to the report. Apparently, TerraChoice had a few summer interns collect all the “green” products they could find at the local grocery store, and then they analyzed the facts behind the claims and published their results. TerraChoice had no idea it was releasing something that would become THE guide for all marketing and communications folks working in the green space.
It’s been three years since the study came out, and it has made an impact in two totally opposite ways. In many cases, the report has kept companies honest. It has raised awareness of the issue and given marketers a standard set of rules to follow. But it has also kept some companies from saying anything at all—even if their product or service has a credible green story—because they are fearful of being labeled a greenwasher. Even Scot admitted that the “Sins of Greenwashing” report may have gone too far, paralyzing companies and keeping consumers from learning about really good products.
What do you think? Has the fear of greenwashing gone too far? Has it kept your company from talking to your customers about your green product?
That’s how Gil Friend kicked off the first full day of the Sustainable Brands conference yesterday.
It was a powerful and surprising statement. It showed how far sustainability has come from the days when environmentalists were labeled “tree huggers.” Today, it’s become another part of the business landscape. Companies aren’t demonstrating social and environmental responsibility because it’s nice. They’re doing it because it gives them a competitive advantage.
Friend’s statement also emphasized the urgency and complexity of our challenge. You just can’t afford to be nice when climate change threatens to turn our home into a blistering, sooty rock. You can’t afford to be nice when you are reinventing the industrial engine of the economy.
Still, change is hard. Bruce McGregor from IDEO told us yesterday that only 10 percent of people are successful in making a change when faced with a life-or-death situation. There are an awful lot of smokers out there who can’t kick the habit after a diagnosis of cancer, and plenty of people fail to exercise and eat better even after developing type I diabetes. Just telling someone to change because it’s good for them doesn’t mean they will do it.
Now, here we all are—facing a life-or-death situation—and still drinking water out of plastic bottles, flushing bleach down the drain, driving our cars.
As marketers and communicators, the lesson is to stop talking to consumers about how they can feel good about their more eco-friendly purchase or their microloan. Only a handful of consumers buy because they want to do good for the planet, and recent research by Fruitful Strategy shows that 24 percent of people are “rejecters” of green products, purposefully avoiding products with green messages on the label. Most people are not buying or behaving green out of altruism, but because it also makes them feel more secure, comfortable or attractive—or it saves them money.
So it’s time for sustainability to stop being so nice. We have to be sustainable and beautiful. Sustainable and healthy. Sustainable and simple. Sustainable and affordable. Our future depends on it.
AHA! is heading to the Sustainable Brands conference next week, for four days packed full of CSR goodness. We’ll be reporting back throughout the week, right here on Shiny Green Button, or you can follow our tweets at http://twitter.com/AHAwriters.
