In 1995, a young diver named Chad Pregracke decided to clean up the Mississippi River – armed with just one boat and a boatload of nerve.
His organization, Living Lands and Waters, has since grown into a national crusade, with thousands of volunteers picking up millions of pounds of garbage from America’s waterways.
Vancouver-based Hemlock Printers, with presenting sponsor Sappi Papers, is bringing Chad to Vancouver and Victoria March 3rd and 4th. It’s the latest in Hemlock’s popular Paper’n’Eggs breakfast series, and they asked Unicycle Creative to develop the branding and invitation for the event.
It was a delightful opportunity to combine the sunny-side-up brand of the breakfast series format with the genuine grit, personality and humour of Chad Pregracke’s presentation.
Once the idea was approved, I had a weekend to find a photographer and a bunch of trash. Hans Sipma agreed to make his studio my temporary dumping ground. Arno Apeldoorn rolled up his sleeves for the high-res photoshop work. Robert Pascal at MB Superior Recycling started me out with the barrel and metal bacon strips. The rest of the trash, including tires, was somewhat depressingly easy to come by just driving around some of Vancouver’s industrial neighbourhoods, and the prop search turned into a uni-cleanup effort all its own.
That’s nothing compared to what Chad and his team goes through, however. 80 bicycles. 830 chairs, 1,019 propane tanks, 55,195 tires, 11 bowling balls… the list goes on.
Sappi Fine Paper North America has partnered with Chad to launch LOE Lustro Offset Environmental, their new premium recycled paper line. It’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense. Sappi gets a real environmental hero, with an engaging story to tell, and Chad gets to spread the Living Lands and Waters word further than would otherwise have been possible. Green marketers take note.
Chad has inspired people worldwide and shows us all how much difference one person can make. We hope you can join us for an inspirational breakfast that will leave you wanting more.

Contact Jamie Slade at Hemlock Printers to see if there are any eggs left. 604 439-5004.

Like steroid-pumping weightlifters at an academic dinner party, the traditional auto show muscle car stars are looking more than a little out of place. At least that’s the report from the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show.
This is the kind of event where auto makers roll out their flashiest new concept vehicles, dream cars that set their corporate visions and the future of the industry itself. These so-called ‘Halo’ cars have almost always been sleek, expensive powerhouses of performance, such as the Dodge Viper. (The fact that Chrysler’s biggest selling model in the 1990s was the K-car-based minivan didn’t seem to faze the executives. It was Detroit’s take on an exotic Italian sports car that they used to try and impress the world.) Take a look at the Viper commercial circa 2000. It screams and roars through a steaming black-lava landscape to a remixed 1960’s rock anthem. The whole thing looks like a sad post-global-warming remake of The Road Warrior.
This all seems like ancient history since the recent global recession and last summer’s oil price spike. Yet it was just 5 years ago that industry visionaries like GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn were dismissing hybrid cars as expensive money losers. And as recently as 2007, GM’s auto show penis-replacements included two 300 horsepower Buicks and a Hummer H3 with a V-8 engine packed under the hood.
In the meantime, Prius has sold over a million units, changing the way the world looks at hybrids and putting a whole new face on Toyota. Now, Lutz proudly states that “The electrification of the automobile is absolutely a foregone conclusion,” obviously with desperate hope that the much-heralded Chevy Volt will save his company.
So who are the new belles of the ball? The Volt will be there, and so will a new more powerful and more efficient Prius. Honda’s Insight, expected to be the least expensive production hybrid in North America, will get its local debut, too. Honda will also have a hydrogen-powered concept car on hand, BMW its 7-Series ActiveHybrid, and Mitsubishi its i-MieV electric concept car. Take a look at some of them here.
For auto marketers and ad creatives, it will be a chance to look past the old toolbox of shuddering rack-focus performance shots, lone cars screaming through the salt flats and the tired tachometer close-up. Car buyers are looking for a different kind of excitement from the car companies. In the face of a recession, a green message may be the only thing that saves Detroit from the auto-wrecker of history.

One by one, news stories are surfacing that are waking consumers up to the fragility of the globalized manufacturing chain. In China, melamine-tainted milk was responsible for six babies dying and some 300,000 cases of kidney infection.
In Canada, the federal government recently placed on its list of toxic substances two silicon-based chemicals widely used in shampoos and conditioners.
And every week, more peanut products are added to the list of those contaminated by salmonella, in a recall from the Peanut Corporation of America. (As of February 9, 2009, that total now includes 1790 products, including some  which are labeled ‘organic’ or ‘Made in Canada’)
These statistics represent tragedies, for individuals, families and innocent companies just trying to succeed in a ‘competitive’ world.
But they also represent an opportunity for every business that has gone the extra mile to understand and secure their supply-chain or processes.
Because, no matter how tight their budgets, people will not knowingly take a chance with their families’ health.
So if you can stand behind every ingredient in your products, or every process in your service, you have a recession-proof point of difference. And you should market the heck out of it.
Of course, care must be taken not to make it a negative smear campaign against a competitor. But there is certainly nothing wrong with saying ‘we’re doing it right’.

“If you don’t know the source of the food that contains peanuts, don’t eat it.” Says FDAs Dr. Stephen Sundlof in the video: Do’s and Don’ts During the Peanut Salmonella Outbreak:
So where are the ads that say ‘we know what’s in our peanut butter’?

I was wandering blissfully through my local supermarket when a magazine caught my eye. ‘Junk Beautiful’ it proudly proclaimed. And with its clean, well-styled photography, and a decent design, this magazine/DVD bundle actually does fair justice to its title. What’s more, it has lessons for any company that is facing recession pressure.
Now, I am an admitted scrounger. I love perusing thrift stores, yard sales and Craigslist for pre-used treasures that can live again while saving some landfill and manufacturing resources. So this sort of thing is right up my dumpster-dotted alley. But consider the marketing power of this concept for a moment. Here is a company that’s not extracting, manufacturing or even selling a thing. They simply offer education, inspiration and motivation, while encouraging people to save money with style (at 13 bucks an issue).
There are a few keys to success in branding something as eclectic as junk. One is to employ a strong graphic standard and style. From the book, to the web site, to the magazine and DVD, the look is fun, funky and consistent – in a folk-art duct-tape kind of way. Another element of success is their choice of sponsor. Gorilla Glue fills a double page spread on the first page of the magazine, and holds the main banner position on junkmarketstyle.com. For the junk style do-it-yourself projects featured throughout, this is a sponsorship that makes huge sense.
Now the marketing lesson: What does your company have in its ‘junk’ pile? A line of underperforming products? Internal processes you have developed that are marketable? Old brand names or trademarks you might want to unload? Brand them with consistency, partner with the right people and you may find fresh markets.
Junk Beautiful is a brand idea that is more than recession-proof. The worse things get, the more people will want (and need) inspiration to live their lives creatively with less.

It seems like just yesterday we were ushering in a brave new era of environmental awareness and positive behavior change. New fair-trade organic free-range recyclable products were launching daily. Hybrid cars graced Hollywood’s red carpets. The US elected a President who can actually find Global Warming on a map. Then ‘Whoops, where’s that 50 Billion you were supposed to deposit in the bank, Uncle Billy?’  Suddenly the world is a whole lot more worried about where their next paycheck is coming from than what kind of recycled stock it’s printed on.
So whither now for those freshly minted Green products and services? What products will survive a belt-tightening? What messages will get cash-strapped shoppers thinking beyond their next credit card bill? Can people rip their attention away from the market drama long enough to remember to tighten the bolts on spaceship earth?
I don’t know yet, Dear Readers, but Green Briefs is going to find out. Over the next few months, I’ll be focusing on the challenges, successes and failures of sustainably-focused products and communications as the economic rollercoaster continues its crazed ride. So stay tuned and hang on.
And if you have any thoughts, stories or research to share, please drop me a line.

These days, many corporate web sites are fairly bursting with well-intentioned fair trade, certified organic, sustainable supply-chain certification symbols. Looks great, but what does it all mean?
Last week I got an e-catalogue from local clothing company Eco Apparel that answered that question. Eco Apparel is a Vancouver-based clothing manufacturer who really puts their sustainability where their mouth is. From recycled-content fabrics to responsible procurement, they work hard to do it right. (see Green Briefs, May 12, 2008 – ‘What’s behind a green clothing label’)
They are also boast their fair share of certifications – Bluesign, Intertek, 1% for the Planet, CSR Corporate Social Responsibility – as well as claims of certified yarns and fair-trade manufacturing.
But unlike many of their competitors, they didn’t just throw another badge on to their home page. On the back of their new product catalogue is a chart that graphically depicts a simplified version of their supply-chain, showing at each stage the effects of the appropriate certification or claim. (To see a larger version visit ecoapparel.ca and click on the Environmental Standard link) At a glance, a potential customer can see that Eco Apparel really considers every step of the process. And the fact that they take the time to illustrate their behind-the-scenes production speaks volumes about the transparency and honesty of the company. I would even recommend they take it a step further with an animated YouTube version. It would be a great educational piece for up-and-coming clothing designers and corporate buyers. Not to mention setting the bar that much higher for their competitors.
Does your company boast any eco-certification? Do your customers or staff know what they mean? Do you?

You copy on both sides of the paper. You don’t print your e-mails. You pour reclaimed rainwater water through old coffee grounds. BUT YOU CAN STILL DO MORE!! Yes, until you consider how many grains of toner you waste on each and every letter you print, you are not worthy.
Meet ECO-Font, by Spranq, which claims to reduce ink, toner, cartridge usage and presumably, designer guilt.
“Appealing ideas are often simple,” says their web site. “How much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink.”
Some bloggers who are much more technical than I, have calculated that at sizes below 8.5pt  the small holes may just fill with ink or toner, and not save anything. Furthermore, the more complex design of each letter could result in longer ‘time-to-RIP’, (the print plate preparation process) which might add costs at prepress time.
But hey, the font is free, and as the first of its kind, I’d have to say it’s worth a try. Even if it does look a bit like a bad Hollywood movie marquee at larger sizes.

Download it from their website. And let me know how the little holes work for you.

Coming Soon: The  Dotskipper™ Ballpoint Pen – Writes a microscopically-dashed line that saves 50% on ink. At least until you leave it in the glove box of your car for 4 years and it dries into a useless plastic stick.

We’ve all seen the stats. Millions of tonnes of CO2 here, billions of plastic bottles there. Pretty soon it’s all just a sea of number soup. Until you see the work of Seattle photographer Chris Jordan.
The image above, for instance, looks like a forest of conduits or ductwork – until you realize that it is hordes of plastic cups stacked on each other – one million plastic cups, to be exact – the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.
“Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing,” Says Jordan, “…making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.” Jordan doesn’t stop with the purely visual. His ‘Energizer’ image depicts a quote from the company’s own PR department on disposable battery use, using 170,000 batteries, equal to fifteen minutes of Energizer battery production. Beyond the fascinating and sobering critique of our consumer society, Jordan’s images also hold an important lesson for those of us who want to market products and services for a better world. The next time you are tempted to glibly toss a statistic into an ad, annual report or brochure, think twice. Humans respond much more intuitively to images than to numbers that must first be processed internally. Is there a better way to illustrate the calculus? Can you demonstrate the effect of your claim? Better yet, can you improve your environmental footprint even further?
I encourage you to check out chrisjordan.com for yourself. Click on the ‘Running the Numbers’ image and scroll down. You’ll never look at statistics the same way again.

P.S. Remember  this image next time you’re writing a press release. How might your words be interpreted visually?

All images ©Chris Jordan, used with permission

As winter hits our idyllic Vancouver wonderland, reminding us of what most of Canada faces for 3-4 months of the year, I can’t help but notice that the snow does, for a short time, make us nicer people. We greet neighbours we would otherwise ignore, smiling at the communal inconvenience, the forced withdrawal from the rat race. We help each other push cars out of parking pits. We shovel the walk just a little further down our neighbour’s way. We share that ‘snow-day’ feeling of missing school, skipping work, and delaying shopping. So here’s to that holiday state, holed up inside with family and friends, working our way through turkey dinner and liquor cabinet leftovers. Living in the now and sending a prayer out to those not blessed with such abundance.

Best of the Holidays, Dear Green Briefs Readers. May your track through 2009 be straight, narrow and true.

Lorne

You’ve printed your brochure on 100% post-consumer recycled stock. Your factory buys energy from a renewable supplier. Your fleet runs on biodiesel sourced from oil that was only used to fry organic, locally-grown potatoes. Now it’s time to do your media plan. This is no time to hang up your green values, but where do you start?
Talk to Koen Reynaert. Koen is an independent media planner and buyer who has been researching the green factor in media for over 2 years.
“I found myself not alone in this way of thinking, although most of the work seemed to be going on in countries as the United Kingdom, Australia and somewhat the United States.” Says Reynaert. “I have since been working to create tools that could determine if a certain media type or title fits the profile of a green campaign.”
Sounds logical. And Reynaert’s background of media buying in Europe certainly lets him back up his research. Of course, as with all things green, clients will have to weigh the advantages of proven, traditional choices with newer, greener ones. So Koen is working on a system he calls Eco Rating Points.
“Media Planners are obsessed with GRP`s, so why not develop a system of ‘ERP’s’ that determines whether a certain media type or title can be given preference over another. The matrix takes into account factors that affect the carbon footprint (e.g. recycled content, energy type used by the media type, distribution, recycling and disposal, the need of energy at the consumer end), as well as content, environmental policies such as eco paper purchasing policies, Corporate Social Responsibility, even donations to charities and/or environmental organizations.”
How would this affect the average buy? Wouldn’t such a system automatically be biased towards electronic media over print? Not necessarily says Reynaert.
“A mass TV campaign can have a larger carbon footprint than a targeted magazine campaign reaching the potential buyer of your green product. Which leads to the conclusion that ROI will go hand in hand with carbon footprint too.”
If you want to know more about Koen’s ERP project, or even just want to know how to pronounce his name, he can be reached online at Reynaert Media. But don’t wait too long, in case your customers start doing the research for you. Koen mentions one case in point.
“How could it make sense that a hybrid car was advertising in a magazine that was printed on 100% virgin fibre, most likely coming from the very vulnerable Canadian Boreal Forests? Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least do some research and find out if a certain magazine would be printed on recycled content, FSC-certified and Ancient Forest Free?”

Here’s Koen Reynaert’s Green Media Watch for December 2008:

Magazines in Canada that are doing a good job: Explore, Outpost, The Walrus, Outdoor Canada, Canadian Home Workshop and Cottage Life. All these titles are printed on 100% recycled (mostly post-consumer) FSC-certified paper and processed chlorine free paper.
Companies such as Transcontinental and Rogers have committed to environmental paper policies for all their consumer and trade publications.
Most TV stations in Canada have still a long way to go but they could look up to BSkyB (owned by Ruper Murdoch’s NewsCorp) that announced to go carbon neutral in 2006 and came up with initiatives such as set-top boxes that consume less power and purchasing 100% renewable energy.
BC-based TV networks score better than their sister networks in Ontario because the energy used by the source and their viewers is 80% hydro, where as in Ontario most energy comes from coal or nuclear power.
Surprisingly, the retail TV digital network offered by Walmart would score well too: for example Walmart is a client of Bullfrogpower in Ontario and the amount of energy used to reach viewers is much lower than a TV program reaching a million viewers all watching TV at home.
The outdoor industry: Pattison has struck a deal with Epcor to buy renewable energy certificates for billboards.
FSC-certified poster paper is an option
There are also eco-friendly alternatives for vinyl offered by companies like Astral Outdoor.