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May 31 - June 4, 2009
Monterey Conference Center
Monterey, CA
SPONSOR: Sustainable Life Media
Sustainable Brands '09 is an international event discussing the rapid rise of sustainability as a driver for revenue growth and brand equity in the 21st Century.
Despite negative world news, the climate is more ready than ever for smart, sustainable brands to pick up steam and take the lead into the future.
Hear from some of the deepest thinkers who are paving the way for sustainable brands - from futurist and economics iconoclast Hazel Henderson on Building a Win/Win World, to Mathis Wackernagel (2007 Skoll Award Winner for Social Entrepreneurship) on ecological overshoot. From Dacher Keltner (PhD, Stanford, and author of "Born to Be Good") on the evolutionary sensibility of altruism, to Tom Szaky (CEO, TerraCycle) on creating profit from trash. And, of course, that's just the beginning. Get a sneak peek at some of the over 60 faculty we're in the process of bringing together.
SB'09 is where the most forward looking business thinkers, brand strategists, designers, sustainability executives and communications experts gather to craft new strategies, solutions and stories that will better serve the needs of today's - and tomorrow's - global marketplace. Whether we are discussing sustainable bonfire brands like Seventh Generation, Living Homes, New Belgium Brewery and Nau, or large global innovators like Wal-Mart, Coke-a-Cola, Steelcase, Clorox, HP and Unilever.
KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz
President and CEO
Sustainable Life Media
650-344-9693.
Event website: http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/events/sb09
Track tasks, manage data, and generate reports all in one place.
New, innovative ways to generate more revenue for your company, and improve your clients’ health and safety compliance.
Automate, track and continuously improve compliance.
The Enviance System is used in applications as diverse as Sarbanes Oxley, construction management and training tracking, Enviance is also used for more traditional compliance application areas such as:
Air Emissions Management
Audit Management Software
Corporate Compliance
Citations and Corrective Action Software
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Software
Health & Safety Compliance Software
ISO 14001 Environmental Software
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Software
NERC Compliance Tracking Software
Compliance Software for SARA/TRI
Hazardous Waste Software
Wastewater Management Software
Enviance, Inc. is located in Carlsbad, CA
760.496.0200
www.enviance.com
earthNOW expo is the only conference program dedicated to green retail practices and the marketing, merchandising and selling of green products and services. Learn from business owners and leaders that have hands-on "going green" expreriene.
Eco-friendly, organic and natural product manufacturers that can get their products into retail stores NOW, will be the companies that succeed in the new green economy.
Eco retailing is a $230 Billion Dollar industry and will grow another 38% this year or another $87 Billion Dollars.
This is an extremely viable market, as 70% of consumers are females, the sex that controls consumer spending. These are educated consumers as 73% have bachelor degrees or higher and 31% of these households earn an excess of 100,000 annually.
Research proves that consumers will pay up to 20% more for Green Products they believe in!
Plan NOW to be a part of earthNOW expo June 4-5, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the face-to-face trade show for consumer product manufactures, retail stores and other green business leaders.
Wal-Mart sustainability scorecard standards | |
| 15% | will be based on Greenhouse Gas (GHG)/CO2 per ton of Production |
| 15% | will be based on Material Value |
| 15% | will be based on Product/Package Ratio |
| 15% | will be based on Cube Utilization |
| 10% | will be based on Transportation |
| 10% | will be based on Recycled Content |
| 10% | will be based on Recovery Value |
| 5% | will be based on Renewable Energy |
| 5% | will be based on Innovation |
Sustainability Planning Resources:
Design Guidelines Available Online
- SPC – Design Guideline
- Association of Post Consumer Plastics has a design for recyclability guideline
-
FTC Guidelines
THE WAL-MART SUSTAINABILITY SCORECARD
It’s likely that you’ll soon have to comply with your customers’ sustainability initiatives as well as your own. That's the case if you provide products for the Wal-Mart chain of retail outlets.Wal-Mart has taken a "lifecycle approach" to packaging with objectives covering reduction in waste and renewable energy. Nine weighted parameters of Wal-Mart's sustainability scorecard are measured for their prospective and current vendors.
Wal-Mart has told its buyers that, starting in 2008, they should consider the packaging scores when choosing among various products for its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Matt Kistler, Vice President - Package and Product Innovations, Sam's Club Wal-Mart
Part of the challenge in rolling out greener products is informing customers about changes that affect their perception of savings. Wal-Mart's April 2008 "Earth Month" promotion is highlighting its greener products and informing customers how making better choices, especially on a large scale, can cause a difference. Wal-Mart is featuring more than 50 products in stores and 500 online, from transitional cotton shirts to mulch made from rubber to Clorox Green Works products.
To green its supply chain the company launched a it's "Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard" in 2007 . By filling in information about products' packaging, suppliers are rated and find out their rank in relation to peers. Kistler said Wal-Mart works with suppliers, telling them what they can do to improve and let them know what other suppliers have done to reduce packaging.
Shipping Services
"On May 12 the USPS will adjust prices for our shipping services — Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, Parcel Return Service, and International Mail. For the first time our pricing includes commercial volume and contract prices, rebates, online price reductions, and other new incentives."Mailing Services
First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services. The average increase by class of mail is at or below the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
A First-Class Mail stamp will be 42¢.
For more information, visit the US Postal Service Price Increase
for growth in renewable energy supply.
In 2007, total utility green power sales exceeded 4.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), about a 20% increase over 2006. Approximately 600,000 customers are participating in utility customer choice programs nationwide.
Green Power Marketing Industry
Utility green pricing programs are one segment of a larger green power marketing industry that counts Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and colleges and universities among its customers, and helps support more than 3,000 MW of new renewable electricity generation capacity.Green Marketing Tips
NREL analysts attribute the success of many programs to persistence in marketing and creative marketing strategies, including in some cases, utility partnerships with independent green power marketers. In addition, the rate premium that customers pay for green power continues to drop.NREL performs analyses of green power market trends and is funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle.
Greater frequency is a mandate stemming from a core concept of sustainability, namely, that sustainability is never achieved once-and-for-all, but rather is approached through constant, incremental improvements.Sustainable practices change! There is tremendous opportunity for improvements as new materials, new processes, and new supply chain practices rethink and refine their environmental impact. And we have a LOT of room to grow.
Increased precision is a mandate owed to the fact that sustainability and profitability are dual, simultaneous pursuits; hence, the objective of sustainable distribution packaging should be protection and overall performance at optimal cost and at a level valued by the consumer.Business isn't simple -- or everyone would be doing it! But the SYSTEM that is put in place by a company and an industry work together to deliver solutions for customers...and eventually, end consumers. System thinking takes into account multiple objectives -- such as environmental survival and company survival.
The great news about this month vs. a year ago...is that multiple benefits can be found in "going green" with product design fitting into the glove of protective and marketing motivated packaging. New materials, new machines, new transportation ... and the rising cost of raw materials are all working together to make conservation and smart design the mantra for business success.
DISTRIBUTION PACKAGING
Distribution packaging (a.k.a. transit packaging) is more than just a corrugated box and interior packing, for example. It includes pallets, slip sheets, strapping, films, netting, returnable containers—even methods of blocking and bracing within the transportation vehicle. Any greener version of any component should be tested for its effect on overall distribution packaging performance.
The facts help make better decisions. And testing gives you specific facts for your peculiar circumstances.
Traditionally, distribution package testing has been performed less frequently than testing associated with the design and function of the primary package, the simple reason being that new or redesigned primary packages come down the pike more frequently. By contrast, it's common for the same shipping box to accommodate a variety of primary packages.
Standardization has been a big benefit for distribution packaging. Pallets, standard size cartons, and even standardized equipment helped meet lean manufacturing goals. The infrequency of distribution package testing is also a result of the practical benefits of standardization. And that's not so good in today's marketplace that is concerned with new, greener, more sustainable improvements.
Distribution packaging can yield savings and efficiencies not only in transportation, but also in material handling and storage.
Less is more
For years, graphic designers have promoted a clean, uncluttered design to communicate more effectively than crowded design.
Simplicity also lends itself to sustainability -- less packaging means more eco-friendliness. Consequently, even a company with a successful record of source reduction will face constant pressures to achieve greater sustainability.
A host of stakeholders including retailers such as Wal-Mart’s packaging initiatives demonstrate that retailer demand for LESS is not limited to disposal preceding display. Selling from the pallet—the staple of club-store merchandising—is also gaining presence in nonmembership venues.
Selling from a pallet demands less distribution packaging, which not only facilitates disposal, but also floor display and consumer access. Case display demands that the distribution package must not appear any worse for wear, since consumers are loath to buy anything visibly blemished.
Coordinating with Product Design
Further complicating things is that many types of products are being designed/redesigned for sustainability by reducing the amount of materials in them. However, if the new design increases product fragility, it places more demands on the distribution packaging. This underscores the importance of fragility curves and designing the product and packaging as an integrated whole.
IN SUMMARY, there are too many factors impacting distribution packaging to know whether they’re being managed optimally, unless that knowledge comes from a well devised and executed testing program. Companies that presently don’t test ought to immediately start. Companies presently testing ought to reevaluate their programs for areas for improvement.
READ MORE AT THE SOURCE: Packaging Insights Packworld.com
Just what IS "green marketing"? Specifically?
Traditional marketing is based on the 4Ps:
Product, Price, Place and
Promotion.
Green marketing adds the triple bottom line*:
People, Planet and Profits.
Green, or environmental marketing also has some Federal Trade commission regulations to meet such as documenting specific, proven environmental impacts of the product's use, etc. Check their regulations at the FTC Environmental Marketing website.
Here's a brief overview of some of the green marketing approaches that put a different spin on connecting people with your company's products and services...for successful results!
LifeTime Accounting as a Marketing Tool
Part of marketing is running the numbers, and triple bottom line accounting expands the traditional analysis and communications reporting framework to take into account environmental and social performance in addition to financial performance.
Marketing Promotion - Communications
Green marketing redefines promotion -- incorporating more two-way (or multiple dimensions) communication. The Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) vision is that reporting on economic, environmental, and social performance by all organizations becomes as routine and comparable as financial reporting.Reporting with Transparency
A core commitment to corporate social responsibility implies a commitment to triple bottom line reporting.Benefits of Green and Sustainability Marketing
Green marketing is about "green products" -- those that protect natural resources. Sustainability marketing brings a broader view -- one that adds human-society concepts such as social justice, local economic health, and employee health and well being.Greener Product Development
Low energy use has been encouraged since the Energy Star program was launched during President Carter's administration! Green chemistry is a growing focus of product development. GE is a leading green product and service developer, having launched a major corporate-wide program called Ecomagination. This program encourages internal green development of products, processes and services; and then capitalizes on these green, sustainable deliverables in their advertising and public relations.Internal Performance for External Marketing Impact
Increasingly, green success stories and case studies that customers, prospects and other stakeholders value, come from the implementation by facility or property managers who develop, deliver, and record innovative solutions that address an organization's performance in relation to a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.Marketing - Price
Pricing is the holy grail of profitability. But green marketing looks at pricing beyond the traditional "sales price of the product". New strategies include pricing products with service contracts. Some products are leased instead of sold.Marketing - Place
Logistics has exploded in volume since globalization of manufacturing and the Internet have changed the way business operates. "Place" is no longer just a wholesale chain or a company owned retail outlet. Place includes the Internet, global supply chains, multiple niche markets, and you local community.Read the rest of this informative approach to "green marketing".
Green Car Institute, a non-profit research and educational organization, has conducted a major study of
the market for neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs).The study measures the potential for NEVs, focusing on their primary consumer market, master planned communities.
Green Car Institute’s background includes the landmark study of the electric vehicle market in California presented to the California Air Resources Board in September 2000: The Current & Future Market for Electric Vehicles. The study remains the most thorough publicly available research quantifying the market potential of, and analyzing obstacles to, the mass marketing of battery electric vehicles.
A number of electric vehicle marketing studies for NEVs are available on the Green Cars Institute website at www.greencars.org/studies.html
