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Sustainability matters - why bother going green?

18 Jan 2010

Surely reducing your personal carbon footprint or that of your company won't save the planet?

Plenty of people are saying it and the rest are thinking it, as we browse the energy efficient light bulbs in the supermarket, unplug our plasma TV at the wall, or leave the car and walk to the shops instead.

What’s the point in cutting our carbon footprint when more than a billion Chinese and much of the rest of the world are jacking up their emissions, as if there were no tomorrow? It’s a fair question.

After all, the atmosphere doesn’t distinguish between a tonne of American carbon dioxide and a tonne emitted by Australians. So as the rest of the world carries on regardless, is the savings from recycling your drink cans or insulating your roof more than just a drop in the ocean?

If you or your company just stopped trying, would the planet notice?

Federation of the willing
When it comes to the subject of sustainability in our current Australian society, we all fall into three main categories.

Willing and informed – some of you reading this article.
Willing and uninformed – make up most of the balance of people reading this article.
Unwilling – the minority, who are almost certainly not reading this article.

Context is the defining factor
Companies that are insular and presentfocused, or worse past-focused, not only struggle to understand their context, but are unable to influence it.

Whether it’s lack of vision, ingrained short termism or an unwillingness to engage with stakeholders, these reactive companies are missing out on the big opportunities sustainability represents.

But sustainability wannabies take heart. If it were easy everyone would be doing it. So for companies looking for an advantage, that’s a good thing.

The (not so) easy 8-step formula to sustainability

So we’d like to share with you the (not so) easy 8-step formula to sustainability. These are really broad concepts and summarised in short bursts so forgive us for its brevity. It’s a big subject!

On the one hand we are saying that the journey toward sustainability can be difficult, so we don’t want to mislead anyone. But at the same time we want to encourage all of you to take these principles and apply them to your workplace and see what steps you can take.

After reading this article if you go away with some ideas or some extra knowledge or even some renewed enthusiasm to do more, then we will have achieved our objective.

There are many great case studies on how this can be done. In our area of interest there are names like Stora Enso and the Pureprint Group, but also others such as Interface and Walmart. But go and search for yourself, because as Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers, once wrote, the journey is the reward.

1 When it involves the environment don’t go halfway, but above all, get started
You’ve got to start somewhere! Typically it can start with just a handful of staff embarrassed about a particular activity that does not fit with their personal goals or principles.

Start with the basic, common sense things like reducing waste.

Then identify environmental concerns within the organisation and initiate solutions which not only reduce the impact on the environment but also cost.

2 Begin environmentally sound products with their design, not with their marketing
Whatever you or your business does, routinely incorporate environmental goals into the problem statement or brief. Companies who leverage their understanding of the environmental aspects of print, to design and purchase projects in ways that reduce waste, are adding important tools to their offering or benefits to their company.

Many of the projects and initiatives that you tackle will have surprising benefits. At Finsbury Green in 2004 we wanted to promote sustainable paper and produced a number of large and impressive Paper Sampler volumes, in ring binders, chock full of samples.

However, they were difficult and time consuming to put together. You could say that this activity was not sustainable, but it led us to publish a rudimentary version of the Green Paper Guide.

Our interest in the paper story grew and we were one of the first to join the Forest Stewardship Council program in February 2007, which in turn led to the rejuvenation of the Green Paper Guide. Now in its fourth edition with over 35,000 copies distributed, it is our most popular publication and considered to be the industry standard for selecting eco preferable paper. The unintended consequences of modest objectives can have surprising results.

3 Use the power of participation
In any business large or small, sustainability can become a highly participative cause. Because much of its success will be due to the willingness of your staff to embrace the ‘greening’ of a business, it is important to encourage their contribution.

Establish a small committee of individuals who have the necessary enthusiasm to get your own program going.

4 Genuinely green your supply chain
Many organisations publish beautifully designed reports, communicating all the right environmental statements and politically correct policies. But when it comes to purchasing, they ignore the genuine efforts of many other organisations and let price be the only driver.

In other words, you could say that when buying goods price still appears to be more important than climate change. This is true for individuals as well as companies and government departments. Despite the rhetoric, price rules.

Any organisation that purchases goods without fully exploring how those goods impact on the environment are only working to a single bottom line.

5 Set a sustainable standard for all your products
If capitalism or the environment is to be sustainable and therefore survive, both must have a future.

Establish your own key performance indicators and work toward simple targets and objectives. By measuring and monitoring your own standards, over time you’ll achieve some great things.

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