GDUSA Green Newsletter

April 2012

CREATIVITY SPROUTS ANEW
Bill Gardner, in his 10th annual LogoLounge trends report, notes that “sustainability oriented design is a perennial theme, and designers continue to grow new niches.” He marvels at the ability of his graphic design colleagues to find new directions in an area that “has been so heavily harvested.” The latest trajectory, he notes, is a focus on “the seminal moment of green birth, that moment when a seed that has been planted first breaks its coating and a minute green leaf springs out of the ground. A sprout is indicative of the beginning of a new cycle of life. The spiral nature of this growth is so wonderfully generic: It’s hard to say at this stage if the seed is birthing a flower, a tree, a crop, or a weed. It simply represents the green birth. It’s a bit like looking at an egg being cracked open by its baby resident and not being quite sure what is coming out. At that moment, it is promise enough of a new day.”
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PRAISE FOR McD’s AND STARBUCKS
The efforts by McDonald's and Starbucks to make their packaging more recyclable or reduce the amount of material they use have earned them praise from the Dogwood Alliance. In the report, “Greening Fast Food Packaging,” the environmental group delineates eight practices to help companies move to more sustainable packaging, illustrated with actions already being taken by major brands. The report urges the use of less paper, new designs to encourage efficient packaging, increased use of recycled content, avoidance of paper from controversial sources and more instore recycling. Among the examples: McDonald’s has reduced the paper in its napkins by 21 percent, and in the U.K. it cut out 84 tons of paper in 2010 by reducing the size of bun tray liners. Pizza Hut has reduced paper in pizza boxes by 15 percent over the last 10 years. Starbucks, meanwhile, has taken a number of steps toward its goal of providing only reusable or recyclable cups by 2015. The company ran a contest to gather ideas, offers discounts when customers use reusable mugs and containers, and has tested how its cups fare in various recycling systems.
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PACKAGING HAS A PROVENANCE
Provenance, a producer of high-end homeware products from recycled and reclaimed materials, turned to Jog Limited in London to design packaging that helped tell that unique story. The solution: copy that introduces each product’s provenance with the language ‘this is now’ and ‘this was’ on the front and reverse of each package.The corrugated board is 100% recycled, utilizing 100% postconsumer waste, and is left unbranded to facilitate recyling and encourage reuse. Paper sleeves are made from 80% recycled paper; minimal ink coverage also facilitates recyclability.

ECO-FRIENDLY BOTTLE WINS BEST
Ecologic Brand’s eco.bottle took both the Best of Show and the 3M Sustainability Award at this year’s IoPP AmeriStar competition. To earn this honor, the package bested more than 150 packages submitted in 18 categories. The eco-bottle is a bag-in-bottle concept offers the marketability of a familiar packaging shape and the sustainability of a pouch-in-pulp shell structure. Each eco.bottle starts with a molded paper, compostable shell made from 100% recycled materials (70% recycled cardboard boxes and 30% old newspapers). This shell, which is certified by Soil Control Labs to be compostable per ASTM 6868 standards, is then paired with a thin fully recyclable interior pouch. This plastic pouch enables eco-minded graphic designers to specify the eco.bottle for wet products that typically would be transported using rigid plastic containers. Eco.bottle’s thin interior liner uses up to 75% less plastic than rigid plastic containers.

BOLD NATURE IMAGES FOR COUGAR
Lush, green forests. Sweeping landscapes. Even a tiny amphibian. Domtar has called upon colorful natural elements to demonstrate the essence of Cougar paper in a dramatic printed piece titled “Cougar: A Force of Nature.” There’s a nice underlying poetry in using bold images of the natural world to showcase paper as a creative medium. This piece features five dramatic nature scenes in a 20” x 8” poster format photo with text drawing parallels between the subject of the photograph and a key point about Cougar papers. Formulated with 10% postconsumer recycled content, Cougar is FSC Certified, and as part of the EarthChoice product line, is certified by the Rainforest Alliance.
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ADIDAS CAMPAIGN PLANTS A SEED
As part of its sustainability efforts, the Adidas Group has introduced its Environmental Strategy 2015, a five-year plan to re-engineer the company’s approach to environmental management by focusing on significant improvements along the entire value chain. On the product side, specific guidelines urge the innovation and product creation teams to design environmentally sound products. In this spirit, a new marketing campaign asking consumers to “grow the grass you play on” was put into effect. All packaging uses recycled content and seed-infused cardboard, encouraging customers to plant their packaging after being purchased. Graphic designer is Tia Hughes, a graphic designer based in Kitchener, Ontario.

CLASSIC EARTH DAY QUOTE
 
“There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.”
 
— GAYLORD NELSON, FORMER US SENATOR
AND THE FOUNDER OF EARTH DAY

EASON STEWARDS REDESIGN
Melding the studio’s interest in design and sustainability, Eason Associates has redesigned American Forests magazine. American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the country, and the organization produces a quarterly magazine. “The health of forests as it relates to the paper and printing industries is something we take seriously,” says Becky Eason, whose design firm has been on the forefront of educating their clients on the importance of selecting paper from responsibly managed forests. The publication design solution includes additional white space, more “points of entry” in the layout of each page, and more contrast in the size of photographs. Senior Art Director Brad Latham notes: “For the masthead, I kept the typographic emphasis on the word ‘Forests’ and used a thin weight of the type font so that the masthead does not overpower the cover photo.”
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THINK LOCAL EAT LOCAL
Farm to Table, an initiative of Public Health-Seattle & King County, provides fresh, local healthy options from Washington State farms to communities in need through meal programs for seniors and young children. Hansen Belyea developed an identity program that encapsulates the program’s core attributes of growing and sharing.
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WWF: CASCADES TOPS SOURCING
Cascades was ranked the fine paper leader in responsible fiber sourcing according to the World Wildlife Fund For Nature Environmental Paper Company Index 2011. This was due to its expansive use of postconsumer fiber as well as FSC certified virgin fiber. To ensure transparency and leadership, 19 global paper producers allowed the WWF, an international environmental association, to conduct an in-depth analysis of the processes for fine paper, tissue or packaging products. “WWF's Environmental Paper Company Index shows the significant and positive progress that the pulp and paper industry has made. Manufacturers are opening their doors not only to independent measurement of their environmental impact, but also to published comparisons of their performance,” says Julie Loyer, Communication and Sustainable Development Advisor for Cascades Specialty Products Group. “This is very encouraging for a manufacturer like Cascades that has strived for many years to continuously reduce its environmental footprint.”
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SUBWAY PUTS LID ON WASTE
The SUBWAY® restaurant chain, which has made a commitment to make its restaurants and operations more environmentally responsible, has announced that nounce that its salad bowls - and lids - are now made from 95 percent postconsumer recycled materials; predominately plastic soda and water bottles. The move is estimated to keep 2.62 million pounds of plastic from hitting the landfills. “We have made a commitment to look at everything with an eye towards taking the steps necessary to make positive, sustainable changes,” says Marketing Director Elizabeth Stewart, who oversees the brand's sustainability efforts. “We are excited to be able to provide one salad bowl and lid made from two recycled bottles. This is one step where we have come almost full-circle in our sustainability efforts.” The brand has 36,000-plus locations around the world; the packaging was created by Pactiv of Lake Forest IL. Shown here: SUBWAY Packaging Technologist Michael Fox and Marketing Director Elizabeth Stewart.