Going Green Environmental Actions
Without the Greenwash
By Melissa Hickman
Whether it’s the July 1 Concert for Planet Earth, Coca Cola’s June 2007 alliance with the World Wildlife Federation or Indianapolis-based i.d.o. Incorporated becoming the city’s first LEED-CI-certified building, green marketing is making an impact at the global, national and local levels.
Environmentally friendly marketing began in the 1960s and 1970s; however, Hurricane Katrina, Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” global warming documentary and other events occurring in the past 18 months have brought greater attention to the trend.
The Green Conference – held in June 2007 in New York City and presented by Advertising Age and Discovery Communications – highlighted Americans’ growing concern for environmental and sustainability issues.
Among topics discussed:
One-third of Americans are more interested in the environment now than they were three years ago
Ninety-three percent of individuals in the above group view companies more positively when they are environmentally responsible; 87% would switch to a competitive brand they deemed to be more environmentally responsible
As companies align themselves with a green cause, the risk of “greenwashing” increases. The 10th Edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.”
Do as I say and do
Greenwashing makes it difficult for consumers to tell who truly is “walking the walk” and who is simply putting on a “green sheen.” The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as a consortium of state attorneys general, penalized several companies in the early 1990s for misleading green statements. Despite green marketing guidelines developed by the FTC in 1992 (which refer primarily to recycling issues), there are few agreed-upon standards for being a green business.
This wiggle room allows some self-proclaimed “green voices” to behave in very “ungreen” ways, at least until the public catches up with them. To gain credibility in an increasingly skeptical environment, a company needs to make its green marketing program real in the office, in the plant and in employees’ lives.
One approach involves earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) certification. Set up by the U.S. Green Building Council, it consists of a demanding system of specific requirements that promote environmentally responsible design and construction for high-performance, sustainable buildings and interiors.
The following steps can help businesses legitimately tout themselves as green:
Audit current environmental practices. Consider the location of key suppliers, for instance, and details including whether carpeting and furnishings are recyclable
Identify gaps between beliefs and practices. This is perhaps the most dangerous area of marketing a company as green when it isn’t
Choose areas for improvement that will have the most impact. Some companies, for example, are installing webinar technology to avoid excessive traveling to business meetings. Others are more frequently choosing local vendors, both to support the local economy and to reduce transportation impacts on the environment
Select the right leader. Many companies have senior management officers holding a title such as energy czar. For the initiative to be taken seriously, it must have the support of senior leadership
Make it personal. From purchasing a hybrid car to using a bike to run errands, energy efficiency programs become effective when the organization’s employees are actively engaged in the cause
Jill Mendoza is founder of i.d.o. Incorporated, the first LEED-CI certified building in Indianapolis. She says that while the certification process was intense, it was a cause that her staff championed and felt passionate about.
In the absence of exact standards for business, companies going green will need to ask themselves “how green” can we be? They will do best to remember that green is not a claim or a posture; it’s a way of living that can be marketed for the great service that it does to the world of today and the needs of tomorrow.
Author: Melissa Hickman is president of Hickman + Associates, a full-service communications agency based in Carmel. She can be contacted at (317) 816-9760 or
www.hickmanassociates.com
Going Green