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Greetings!
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 A friend of mine shared some important information with me I'd like to share with you.
He said that we're not in the Information Age any longer. That age was characterized by information taking center stage. Ownership of information was the driver. Creating and distributing information was the goal.
Now, he suggested, we're part of the Participation Age where human interaction is front and center. The model is based on people sharing, interacting and problem solving. The Participation Age is about community. Think Millenials, Second Life, Facebook, Digg, IM.
When one considers Sustainability, the models aligns perfectly. We're not going to solve the myriad problems we are facing without leveraging the contributions of the greatest number - involving the community or the entire enterprise.
Sustainability demands cross-company activity and coordination. No Sustainability programs or initiatives can succeed when they are siloed. Solutions come from the open exchange of ideas and experiences. Diversity expands opportunity. Buying into "Participation" endows people throughout an enterprise with the skills, understanding, processes, and authority they need embrace the Sustainability objectives of the enterprise,. A commitment to participation increases the possibility of success.
The most effective programs we find within businesses start from a commitment at the top, clear leadership, communication of mission and empowerment across the company. Sustainability demands participation.
So, Get Tools. Get Active. Get Real. Participate.
Lisa Wellman, CEO, SustainCommWorld
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| FACTOIDS: Web Pages, Direct Mail, TV Ads and CO2
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One of the major areas of inquiry we receive concerns the establishment and tracking the carbon footprint of a business or activity. It is a complex task. When focused on marketing communications and media, it's more challenging because those footprints are just now being determined. We have, however, uncovered some reporting that might be useful for you.
TrinityP3, and media buying agency Maxus, created hypothetical ad campaigns each designed to reach 1 million grocery buyers
using different media. They determined the carbon footprint of each campaign.
Internet: It's estimated that each web page generates up to 5,000 times the carbon required to post the page to begin with. Pages are backed up daily and then held on servers. Search engines, spiders and bots crawl the web, viewers visit and cache pages. Google alone copies all web pages, indexes them, crawls them frequently and performs assorted proprietary algorithms which generate carbon. Consider now the expansion of rich media content forcing additional servers to handle larger size files.
The combination of back-office servers and computer monitors meant that the Internet accounted for more greenhouse gases than any other medium in the TrirnityP3 study, emitting 2258 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
TV, Radio and Newspapers: In the same study television was next at 1714 kilograms, then newspapers at 1000 kilograms, followed by radio and outdoor advertising.
Direct Mail: A recent Pitney Bowes study determined that the delivery of a letter by the USPS results in the emission of about 20 grams of CO2 equivalent emissions per letter delivered.
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| As California Goes: Caps on Pollutants
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On June 28th, California spelled out an ambitious and far reaching attack on global warming through far reaching legisltion. The plan includes clean cars, renewable energy and stringent caps on big polluting industries.
While specific targets for Green Media will emerge as targets are refined, measures that cap "big polluting industries" must include the heavy CO2 producing power plants that support paper and print establishments as well as the heavy power usages devoted to major data centers.
The new plan calls for a 10% reduction from current levels in pollutants by 2020. To understand the full meaning of this plan consider the context. California, like most states, is heavily invested in growing its major businesses so that the target pollution reductions must co-exist and be accomplished without hampering economic growth.
Because emissions from fossil fuels account for nearly half of the global CO2 problem, the search for sustainable power sources for electricity and automobiles tops most lists as priority number one. The problem is, today sustainable power for plant and offices or for automobiles is simply not available. California is stepping up to solving the problem.
Many feel that California's model may well be adopted in other states.
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Timberland's Harrison Added as Keynote
Eco-Conscious Media Campaign an Industry First
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Michael Harrison, co-President of Timberland has agreed to deliver the fourth keynote of The Green Media Show Conference in Boston. He is set to speak on the financial returns social responsibility programs bring the enterprise.
We were particularly interested in bring Mr. Harrison to our audience in light of their being named one of MediaWeek magazines"Media Plan of the Year" award winnters for 2008. Timberland's Earthkeepers advertising campaign was selected as the best media plan spending under $10 million.
The Earthkeepers campaign has gained interest for its "eco-conscious" qualities: in an industry first, the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the commercial airtime of the campaign - across television, radio and Internet - were offset with wind power from the Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort wind project in western Massachusetts. A portion of other emissions related to production and distribution of the campaign were offset as well. In addition, billboards from the campaign have been repurposed into reusable tote bags which are currently being sold at Timberland® retail stores.
Media planning and buying for Timberland's Earthkeepers campaign was handled by mediaHUB, the media and analytics arm of Boston-based advertising firm, Mullen. The agency collaborated with Timberland in developing a media plan that penetrated the Boston and Providence advertising markets, while at the same time calculating the carbon impact of the electronic media and creating reuse options for the out-of-home advertising elements - no small task.
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