The ubiquitous Treehugger has invited Jerry Stifelman to write more on green marketing and how we are certainly not going to save the world one cliché at a time. His suggestions are wise and succinct, boiling down more or less to ‘it’s the product, stupid’. If ‘green’ messages are going to work in mainstream markets they must finally advertise products that are good stuff as well as good thoughts.

The winners of the Observer ethical awards seem to bear out this simple truth. Finisterre, the ethical fashion category winner, is a great little company that stands out for me for its customer service and product quality. I bought one of their jackets last year and I soon forgot that their fibres are recycled and their suppliers fair.

Natural Collection, the winning online retailer (which does not, unfortunately, sell furniture) commented at the 2006 awards that they already have the ‘green’ customer’s attention: their website is aimed at mainstream customers with a green interest.

All this good sense brings me back to Pli’s principle: we don’t like ‘green’, we like ‘transparent‘. After an enjoyable day answering tough questions from potential retailers, I’m learning to keep the conversation focused on the benefits for the customer, not so much of the big picture stuff. Nobody’s going to kid them into selling something their customers don’t need. Why should they?

Futerra is a communications agency in London and New York — they specialise in corporate social responsibility. It’s rewarding to follow their thinking and ideas on communications and sustainability. If you are trying to learn the language of sustainable product design and how to communicate it, they’re on your wavelength.

Futerra has recently compiled it thinking on Greenwash…

They neatly summarise the concept of greenwash and why it’s corrosive to sustainable product design. Importantly, they also give you pointers to avoid looking like greenwash when your message really has merit.
(and see Pli’s tagged blog posts here)

Futerra’s blog often makes a good read, too.
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If a corporation has developed and patented a technology that has a general, environmentally-friendly benefit, then how can that patent protection be compatible with the pressing need to share and implement that kind of technology? What’s the point of inventing something environmentally useful if nobody else can use it, or can afford a license to use it?

The Eco-Patent Commons initiative sets out to address the issue in such a way as to reassure large, tech-driven corporations whose intellectual property is an important part of their market value. The scheme is being led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and IBM in partnership with Nokia, Sony and Pitney Bowes.

As an example of how the scheme can work, have a look at
Nokia’s initiative which they annouced in January 2008.

For the full low-down on Eco-Patent Commons, click on the image…

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Here’s a link to Home-air-purifier-expert.com, a site which goes some way towards explaining the reason why Pli adds no formaldehyde to any of our products, in glues, binders, fillers, coatings or paints… (via Treehugger). Exposure times to industrial emissions of formaldehyde are limited by law. Prolonged exposure even to small quantities of formaldehyde is thought to cause health problems.

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We launched our new plidesign.co.uk website today, after about a month thinking, sketching, briefing and working out what kind of site we need in order to grow the way we want. Steve Taylor created it for us, built on a blog tool called Wordpress.

We want to make it as simple as possible to tell you about our products, our news and what inspires us. The main aim of the new site is to give you clear, accessible information about everything we’re working on. You are strongly encouraged to comment on our posts; we are very keen to share ideas and information among our visitors and staff.
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There is a lot of buzz around ‘green’ and ’sustainable’ products. The big issue with this kind of marketing is that there is a big difference between saying green and being green. Read a previous post on greenwashing. The onus now lies on the consumer to check up on the manufacturer to make sure all their claims are accurate and no naughty indiscretions have been conveniently left out. The American Society of Interior Designers have developed a green products checklist which gives you things to look for when purchasing a green or sustainable product.

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A recent piece of writing I had read in a Turkish newspaper reveals it all about a personal greenwash. The Stockholm correspondent of this newspaper had sent an article about the poshness of being green in the Swedish capital, in which she told how “in” it was to go down on the street, to the recycling bin, and finally to recycle your waste, and let everyone see you during the process.

While that seems to be the case in Western Europe, one would find it really difficult to hold onto a green lifestyle in Turkey, since there is a huge lack of awareness of the issue. However, as careless are the businesses and people in Turkey about sustainability, a newcomer to the UK might get just as tired of seeing so many words like green, eco, sustainable, etc. It’s big business here.
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