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“Sustainability” has been named one of the “jargoniest jargon” words of 2010 by Ad Age magazine. It ranks up there with monetize, 360 and the new normal. The editors describe sustainability as “a good concept gone bad by mis- and overuse. It’s come to be a squishy, feel-good catchall for doing the right thing.” It’s no wonder, since the word makes everything sound a bit more classy and there is no clear definition that gives rise to that pesky thing known as accountability. And that, in a nutshell, is why sustainability is sustainable, at least for copywriters.

— Gordon Kaye

For a company [Starbucks] that has a large portion of their website devoted to promoting the claim that they’re very environmentally aware and making constant efforts to reduce their footprint through methods including recycling, constructing “green” buildings and ethically sourcing their coffee sources, what does it mean to add up the countless building signs, road signs, printed items for every product they carry, window graphics, gift cards, etc. that are all going to have to be re-made, re-printed and shipped to every corner of the globe? It means a pretty deep carbon footprint.

— Freelance Writer Tara Alley who promotes green coffee and coffeemakers for Coffee Home Direct.

Kind Vines
Davidson & Belluso Advertising and Design recently worked with a wine company to create sustainable packaging for their bottles. The company, Kind Vines, has created a 100% recyclable product. The agency designed a screen print image which allows the bottles to be washed and reused as well as a QR code that links consumers to a website that shows the type of wine that they’ve purchased. Davidson & Belluso has made a green commitment in general and saw this project as “a great opportunity to collaborate with our clients on earth friendly design options.”

Going Green Annoys
While the term “sustainability” ranked high on the 2010 jargon scale (see Publlshers Note), it was not the only environmental-related phrase to generate scorn. In The Creative Group survey of most annoying buzzwords, responding advertising and marketing executives honored “Going Green” with a close-to-the-top ranking. Donna Farrugia of TCG notes that “excessive use of buzzwords can cause people to lose interest and tune out.”
creativegroup.mediaroom.com/25buzzwords

CBS Expands EcoAds
CBS is expanding a program that funds environmental projects with advertising dollars to its various ad platforms. Last year, CBS purchased EcoMedia, a company that directed portions of companies' ad expenses to green projects. The company continues to do the same at CBS with the launch of the EcoAd across CBS’ TV, radio, online and billboard ad offerings. When companies purchase an EcoAd, which carry a leaf logo, 10% of the spend is be diverted to local projects. Recent recipients include a solar installation at the Long Beach Airport and an energy efficiency retrofit at Miami's City Hall. The initial advertisers include Avidia Bank, Boston Scientific, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, PG&E, Pacific Coast Termite, Port of Los Angeles, Safeway’s O Organics brand, and SunPower. The latest big media buy is from Chevy.

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Freelander Fight
To underscore that the Freelander 2 is a car that excels in both a natural environment and an urban landscape, Y&R NY dramatizes the point by showing two characters fighting over the car, one representing nature, the other city. The agency for Land Rover turned to artist Levi van Veluw. As Menno Kluin, Head of Art, states, “Once we had the idea, we immediately thought of using Levi. His style is ideally suited to the idea and we knew he could bring it to the next level.” Credits include Executive CDs Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal, Global Creative Director Graham Lang, Creative Directors Menno Kluin and Graeme Hall, and Art Director Alexander Nowak.

First Director of Sustainability
Curtis Packaging, a producer of luxury packaging, has appointed Beth Schere as its first-ever Director of Sustainability. A recent graduate of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, she is responsible for all corporate sustainability and environmental efforts. A top priority: to attain ISO 14001 certification for environmental practices. “Plenty of people talk about green ideas,” says president and ceo Donnald R. Droppo Jr., “but few understand the real world connections between environmental sustainability and economic feasibility.”

In A Pickle
Daily Green has selected the top most wasteful food package categories. These include: Packaged Cheeses, Raisins & Prunes, Organic & Helath Foods. Single Portion Packs, and Lunch Foods. The most unique choice: Single Pickle Packs, which are shown here. See the complete images of waste compiled by the website at...
http://tinyurl.com/2dmab9s

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http://www.gdusa.com/eblasts/2011/110110-ce/msg.html

Living Billboards
Hoping to get drivers to respect bus lanes, the MTA of New York City is turning to an unusual publicist: bikers. Bicyclists pulling mini-billboards have been deployed along First and Second Avenues to warn drivers to obey the rules of the road - or get fined. “It's a wonderful, green method of advertising,” said Raymond Villani, promotion director for MyAdsonBikes, an advertising-on-wheels company hired by the transit authority. “It's nonpolluting. There's no carbon footprint. Just a unique way of getting attention.”

Naturally Skeptical
Grocery shoppers, even those committed to green purchasing, are growing wary of “natural” labels and believe there should be standards for products bearing that description. This according to the results of a poll conducted by Mambo Sprouts Marketing of 1,000 consumers of organic and natural products. Mambo Sprouts is releasing its results in a study that will be available for purchase in January. According to Mambo Sprouts: 34 percent of respondents said they are not very” or not at all” confident in references to “natural;” and 65 percent said they are “very interested” in seeing standards set or certification for products labeled as such.

Green Cred
Taiwan ran an international advertising campaign promoting its bid to join the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change prior to the agency’s conference recently held in Mexico. Under the banner “Taiwan cuts carbon emissions by turning trash into green gold,” the campaign promotes the country’s contribution to environmental protection through its recycling technology. According to Taipei officials, a highlight of Taiwan’s recycling technology is the transformation of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, bottles into items such as socks, handbags, blankets, and football jerseys worn by some teams at the World Cup in South Africa. Another high-profile application has been the construction of a green building using 1.5 million recycled bottles at the Taipei International Flora Expo. The effort failed — China remains a huge obstacle to Taiwanese representation — at least for the moment.

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Agfa Graphics recently announced that 170 companies have received their GreenWorks™ Environmental Recognition Awards since the program was launched in 2008. GreenWorks recipients are proactively minimizing their ecological footprint while maintaining the highest quality standards in the graphic communications industry. The newest GreenWorks recipients include…

“For a company like Agfa, developing new printing technologies that are more productive, efficient and minimize environmental impact is paramount. GreenWorks provides a platform for us to support customers who are doing their part and running more eco-friendly companies,” said Dave Carey, Product Manager, Agfa Graphics, North America. For more information...
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LAST WEEK’S
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