Communicating Sustainability Presented to The Green Spider Network By John Harrington Of Sustainable Ireland Rome, October 22, 2004
Jan 19, 2016
Communicating Sustainability
Presented to
The Green Spider Network
By
John Harrington
Of
Sustainable Ireland
Rome, October 22, 2004
Agenda Context
Introduction to Sustainable Ireland Backdrop to this presentation
Background Marketing experience
The Challenge Successfully Launch Sustainability
Case Studies Discussion
Who we are
Sustainable Ireland - Workers cooperative formed in 1999 Five full time staff, five European interns and over 50
volunteers Official NGO status Excellent credentials within sustainability and NGO community Plugged in to Local / National agencies (Comhar, Enfo, DoELG) Links to an emerging business sector Growing Media Profile Five years of successful event experience International reputation
Our Mission
To promote a new cultural wisdom that recognizes the balanced, holistic and connected relationship between
society, the economy and our environment
What we do..
Cultivate - Irelands only Sustainable Living and Learning Centre, located in the heart of Dublin.
Publications – Source Book, Web site, e-newsletters, Magazine, quarterly programme of events, online directory of sustainable organizations, green map, guide to hosting low impact events, etc.
Consultation - Clients include DoELG, Comhar, Enfo, Dublin City Council, Feasta, Plan Expo
Events - Over 200 per year, the most important of which is Convergence
How we do it..
Educate - Workshops, courses and intern learning programme Showcase - demonstrate practical solutions Translate - Make sustainability easy to understand and
relevant Communicate - get the word out and the point across Inspire/Empower - Close the loop between our individual
actions and the quality of our society, the economy and our environment
Entertain - Use the arts to convey the wisdom of sustainable practice
Why we do it?
Sustainable Ireland - our name is our vision Smart money is on sustainable solutions
Competitive advantage for early entry to eco-economy
Increase in sustainability policy from the EU It’s fun, creative, and it just makes sense
BackgroundWhat I knew from Marketing
It’s hard to manage what you can’t measure You can change behaviour only when you understand what
motivates your target audience People are different but patterns exist (pyschographic,
demographic) Some drivers are better than others (fear, sex, association)
but certain characteristics must be met At the heart of every good brand is a good, simple story,
relevant to it’s target audience Creativity is the currency
The Challenge What if “Sustainability” was a new product that we were about to launch (for clarity
I’ll use italics wherever I refer to this new product) And what if non-sustainability or the current way of doing things was it’s main
competitor and the current market leader (We’ll call it NonSus)?
How should we position Sustainability (relative to NonSus) ?
What can we say about Sustainability, it’s features and benefits ?
What target audiences should we prioritise and how can we understand what motivates them?
Any Sustainability Superstars; Case Studies?
Is the name “Sustainability” negotiable ?
What has Sustainability have to offer ?
NonSus: A Competitive Profile
Resource Management - Natural Capital
Based on principles of Industrial Revolution - 252 years old Billions of pounds of toxic material into our ecosystem each year Requires complex laws to keep people from being poisoned too
quickly Results in gigantic amounts of waste Erodes the diversity of biological species and cultural practices
Based entirely on a Take, Make, Waste system
Reverse Evolution - toward a disorganised and toxic biosphere
Natural and social capital grossly undervalued
‘Cradle-to-Grave’ Design Paradigm
Make
Manufacturing,
production,
distribution, use6% Product
WasteLandfill,
incineration94% Waste
Take
Raw material
extraction and
synthesis
NonSus: A Competitive ProfileResource Management - Natural Capital continued..
5000 times more topsoil is lost than is replaced2 - A fourth of topsoil and a third of forest cover gone1
Forests shrinking at a rate of 9 million ha per year2
Will lose 70% of our coral reefs in our lifetime (host to 25% of marine life) at present rates of destruction1
Losing freshwater ecosystems by 6% per year1
Losing marine ecosystems by 4% per year1
In 25 years time, 50% of worlds population will suffer severe water shortages1
On the poorest continent on earth, soil erosion has reduced annual harvest by $1.9 billion2
Ref 1 : Natural Capitalism
Ref 2: Earth Policy Institute
Resource Management - Human Capital
10 million children die each year, mostly from preventable causes*
4.5 million children die each year due to lack of access to clean drinking water*
1 in 4 children lives in abject poverty*
1 in 3 children suffers from malnutrition*
19% of children have no access to clean drinking water*
It would take less than one cent paid per person to give clean drinking water to all children
NonSus: A Competitive Profile
*Source: UNICEF
NonSus: Target AudiencePrimary
Organisation leaders and executive decision makers
Characteristics
Competitive, confident, ambitious, decisive, practical, end-game focused, court power, respect strength/loyalty, like problem solving, belief in the current system, more is more, resourceful, out of touch? visionary?, male for the most part? fathers, mothers, grandfathers, traditionalists, White? Not necessarily evil!! Not particularly sentimental
Secondary
Consumers
NonSus: - Key Position NonSus is a tried and tested, well understood, market driven,
system of allocating resources in the most competitive and cost efficient way possible
Uses Market dynamics to reconcile any imbalances
Millions of satisfied customers for the last 252 years
Proven to improve living standards
Comes fully loaded with linear, disconnected, short term, mechanical thinking that works in the real world!
Now with more power to keep you on top
Constantly strives to reduce internal costs - NonSus is not programmed to calculate external costs
Uses the latest Technology
Complies with all legal requirements
Not compatible with “Sustainability”
• Life is short
• They should be made feel guilty for their disgraceful mismanagement of Earth Inc and all of it’s resources
NonSus - PositioningCompetitive
Not Competitive
NonSus
SustainableNon Sustainable
Climate Change Levy
LCA
Factor 4
EMS
CSRCSR
New Regulation
Eco-Efficiency
Product Stewardship
Social Reporting
ISO 14000
Environmental Audit
Triple Bottom Line
Green Accounting
Post-Kyoto Agenda
Environmental Reporting
Efforts to upgrade NonSus All rooted in being less Non-sustainable or less “Bad”
Make
Waste Take
Environment
‘Cradle-to-Grave’
Make
Waste Take
Still ‘Cradle-to-Grave’
EnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironment
Efforts to Reposition NonSusCompetitive
Non Competitive
NonSus 1.0
Sustainable (Good)
Non Sustainable (Bad)
• Measures success by less activity
• May be a risk to competitiveness
• More regulation, more hassle
• Releases fewer pounds of toxic material
• Results in smaller amounts of waste
• Less Bad is not Good• Restricts creativity• Still a non-sustainable
position
NonSus 2.0
you can't solve problemsusing the same thinkingthat caused them
We need some New Thinking A Radical new communication position for “Sustainability” Not “less bad” Not Eco-Efficient Must understand what motivates target audience to
subscribe to NonSus Must use creativity and innovation of current system Preferably not “reduced activity” based No guilt please!! We need a new Cultural Wisdom
organisation Common view of the
organisation's relationship with the outside world:
separate… self-containedmechanical… tangential…with needs… environment
society
The true relationship between the organisation and the outside world:
nested… dependent… with needs and responsibilities..
…. wholly owned subsidiarysociety
environment
organisation
organisation
How should we spendour money?
What kind of social or environmental initiatives should we support? How can we clean up our mess?
environment
society
How should we make our money?
How can we make our money in a way that also serves the needs of the wider system?
How can we do business without making a mess?
society
environment
organisation
A radical shift in consciousness and perception
FROM
separateness
management
self-interest
profit-driven
FROM
separateness
management
self-interest
profit-driven
TO
nestedness
leadership
common good
values-led
TO
nestedness
leadership
common good
values-led
A radical shift in consciousness and perception
FROM
Cradle to Grave
Waste = Waste
Eco-efficiency
Bad
FROM
Cradle to Grave
Waste = Waste
Eco-efficiency
Bad
TO
Cradle to Cradle
Waste = Food
Eco-effectiveness
Good
TO
Cradle to Cradle
Waste = Food
Eco-effectiveness
Good
NonSus / SustainabilityCompetitive Positioning
Competitive
Non Competitive
NonSus
GOODBAD
• A “good” position, not less bad
• A true point of differentiation
• Sell Intelligence, not poison
• More Competitive, Smarter, Clean, Creative etc..
• More profitable
• Introduces positive materials into the ecosystem
• No preventative regulations = less hassle, less cost
• Produces assets that benefit future generations
• Celebrates abundance, does not limit activity
• Better by design
Sustainability
Smart
Future
Hi-tech
Dumb
Dirty
Past Obsolete
Clean
Sustainability Positioning Statement
• Sustainability is simply the most intelligent, competitive and cost effective system to allocate your organisations resources because only Sustainability uses cradle to cradle technology to eliminate waste and optimise energy at the design stage, saving you time, money and hassle
• However, I recommend we do some research to test the name “sustainability”. Static, traditionalist implications at odds with the dynamic and inspirational nature of the product
Just some of Sustainability’s Satisfied Customers
Biological NutrientClimatex®Lifecycle™a healthy, safely compostable, environmentally intelligent fabric
Climatex Lifecycle
Before:• Workers handled
hazardous materials
• Mill trimmings declared hazardous waste
• Upholstery unhealthy for humans
After:• Made from wool and
ramie, both renewable fiber resources
• Biological nutrient dyes
• Completely compostable
Climatex®Lifecycle™Biological Metabolism
Technical NutrientShaw EcoWorx:a completely recyclable, environmentally- intelligent carpet!
Shaw EcoWorx
Before:
• Carpet backing made from PVC and polyurethane
• Carpet backing was not recyclable and interfered with the recycling of the Nylon 6 fibers
After:• Carpet backing & fibers
are separable and can be recycled individually
• Carpet backing: Combination of polyolefin resins
• Fibers: Nylon 6
BASF Savant™Technical Metabolism
Herman Miller Mirra Chair Technical Nutrient
Quelle: Herman Miller Inc.
Herman Miller Mirra Chair Technical Nutrient
More Information
www.sustainable.ie/convergence
www.mbdc.com
www.thenaturalstep.org
John Harrington - Tel: 00-353-87-753-3039