If Santa doesn’t show up at your house Christmas Eve, look for him at the corner of 8th & Cypress in Vancouver, dangling above a rather creative display of recycled ornamentation in a Kitsilano traffic circle. At least that’s where I last saw the guy. Not so fat, definitely not jolly and looking, frankly, a little worse for wear. Not sure who he pissed off (Hell’s Angels? The RCMP?) but I hope they show some mercy by December 24th. Otherwise this whole town could be on the coal list. Not that the mining-happy BC Liberal Government would mind that at all.

Merry Christmas.

P.S. The guy who set up the display saw me taking this pic and asked me to donate to the Food Bank. So I did. You should too – come on, it’s a 5-minute online transaction. Maybe it will help save Santa.

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is known the world over as a tough neighbourhood. So when we were asked to brand a redevelopment of market homes on the border of this area, we knew it would not be easy. But with a strong developer and a surprising number of community advantages, this project has become a small but effective redevelopment success story.

Salient Group, with offices right in Gastown, has used their local knowledge and love of heritage renovation to launch some of the area’s most innovative residential redevelopments. Just a bit further east, a local property lending institution was stuck with an old stratified concrete and brick building which had sat vacant for a number of years. They called upon Salient’s expertise to reconceive, develop and market the homes.

Salient called Unicycle Creative.

Establishing the story
In the original branding session, we realized there’s more to Gastown and the Downtown Eastside than you’ll see on the evening news. It is home to some of Vancouver’s most exciting new restaurants, shops and businesses.

“Our buyers are people who know this area, and may even already live or work here,” says Robert Fung, President of the Salient Group. “They see the possibilities this neighbourhood has, and they like its creative ‘edge’. So we knew we didn’t want a traditional real estate campaign with smiling people sipping lattes.”

From a sustainability perspective, the re-use of an existing building shell, the addition of density to an ‘urban village’ neighbourhood and the focus on affordability for entry-level purchasers all reflected quite positively on the development. But a purely ‘green’ angle was secondary, we felt, to the rich story of the community itself.

21 Doors. A name that opens a lot of possibilities.
Intimate. Understated. An approachable scale of community development. A limited number of buying opportunities. These are some of the qualities communicated in this unique development identity.

“We knew an over-the-top creative name would be trying too hard,” says Unicycle Creative Director Lorne Craig. “Yet branding this building with the address alone would not say enough. We wanted people to imagine sharing time in the central courtyard with their neighbours. We also wanted to respect the fact that the Downtown Eastside is already a community, and we are part of that. 21 Doors has a close-knit quality to it that we hope will continue to inspire the people that live there.”

Celebrating a ‘Community of Independents’
The LiveAt21Doors identity was designed as a combination of art and journalism, using line drawings, gritty concrete textures and a duotone colour palette. A neighbourhood map boldly features hip new local restaurants and businesses right next to Downtown Eastside landmarks like the Carnegie Centre and Pigeon Park.

A gallery of artistic photographs by project designer Arno Apeldoorn brought a fresh eye to the Gastown area, showing off the textures and light that make this historic area such a treasure. These were also used prominently in the display centre.
The traditional glossy real estate lifestyle brochure was abandoned in favour of a simple door hanger, distributed to local businesses. This piece played off the ‘door’ theme, while showcasing the many benefits of living in the Gastown/Eastside area with a bit of fun. A print ad in the Georgia Straight drove more prospects to the LiveAt21Doors.com website, setting the stage for opening day.

Open for success.
After the dust settled on the first weekend of sales, 19 of the 21 Doors were spoken for. The affordable price point of these homes and the intelligent courtyard design by Taylor Kurtz Architecture & Design were the real draw. But overcoming the negative perceptions of a neighbourhood in transition by putting it in full view and celebrating its diversity no doubt played a valuable part in such a successful launch.

These units were never designed to gentrify the area with million-dollar homes. They were offered as an affordable opening into one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

So perhaps most satisfying statistic of all is the fact that over 50% of sales went to first-time buyers. The sales team worked extra hard to make deals happen for those new home owners who love the Gastown area and want to bring their own energy to the community.

All of which makes these 21 Doors a worthy contribution to the revitalization of Vancouver’s original neighbourhood.

So how do you tell that story in a way that appeals to the fashionistas? (And still include the sustainability branding of parent company Cadillac Fairview…?)

Well, everyone loves a good discount.

By framing the ‘Green At Work’ message in a 100% OFF price tag format, Unicycle Creative got instant shopper attention and described Pacific Centre’s waste diversion rate in one clean graphic.

The team at Pacific Centre went one step further, designing an in-mall Recycled Runway Fashion Show, using local artists to create a stunning ready-to-wear-it-again collection. Unicycle designed a pair of banners to frame the show and communicate key zero waste messages.

Some of my deeper green readers may look down their noses at the idea of such a bastion of consumerism dipping a pedicured toe into the sustainability pond. But I see it this way: Shopping isn’t disappearing anytime soon. Putting sustainability on the radar of fashion shoppers is an important step in creating the conditions that will put pressure on all parts of the retail supply chain to green up their act. Zero Waste is a solid start.

It might as well look good on them.

Unfortunately, this discovery may remain secret for some time. I don’t think most people would have made it past the drab industrial label and yawn-inducing name. Wait for it:

Coronation Grapes.

Where is the connection? The last coronation affecting Canada took place in 1953. (Queen Elizabeth, in her young-Audrey-Hepburn period) This sounds like a product my Aunt Phyllis would have on her tea tray. It’s a name only a British soap-opera fan could love.

Not wanting to gripe without offering at least a token solution, I got curious and visited the BC Grape Growers website to find out more. Turns out this particular variety was actually invented in Summerland, BC. It’s the most abundantly-planted table grape in the Okanagan, and you can use them in any berry recipe.

A grape with this much kick-ass flavour and genuine local roots has a lot of options for rebranding. Start with the colour. The size. The delicate velvety ‘bloom’ on their surface. Or go right to their origins. Even the obvious ‘Summerland Grapes’ would be an improvement, offering visions of glowing vineyards and a direct connection to their history. But I’m sure even more could be done with a little thought (and a few glasses of wine).

Start with a more intriguing package design, with the local story and a link to more info and recipes right on the box. Then take the marketing outwards. Locavore restaurants could feature these grapes as appetizers, in desserts, salsas and on ice cream. (Or in a glass of vodka! The Summerland Grapetini!) Make them part of BC wine festivals. Design a kooky claymation character to sing and dance their praises on YouTube. Anything, for crying out loud, that will break peoples’ habit of mindlessly reaching for the massive-carbon-footprint-foreign-jumbo-mutant-grape-bunches offered up in every big box mart.

I am one of the rare ‘committed local’ buyers who will go out of my way to try produce that didn’t rack up more air miles than my last three vacations. But the mainstream will need something more inspiring than ‘Coronation’ to shift their buying habits. BC Grape Growers, you have my number.

God save the grape.

Shot through the window of a closed-down Blockbuster store. How quickly a business model can change. Maybe this will happen to the Tar Sands one day.

The theme of my talk was Sustainability Literacy, and as part of this Powerpoint extravaganza, I ended up compiling a few resources for further reading. It occurred to me that some of my regular Green Briefs readers might be interested in a couple of these links as well. So here is your Sustainability Literacy reading list for the week.

5 Green Consumers You Need To Know
This is actually cheating, as it is a link back to my own blog article. But even though this list was compiled 4 years ago, the idea behind sustainability behaviour as a technology adoption curve still stands.

Global Reporting Initiative
The global standard for corporate sustainability reporting. Short-cut to the G-3 standards page for a how-to lesson in compiling your own sustainability report. Not light reading, but thorough.

The Sins of Greenwashing

My friends at the environmental agency Terrachoice started this concept over 5 years ago, and it is still going strong. This is the definitive guide to critical analysis of product claims, and while it has been criticized for being too critical, the theory is sound. Kudos for their new family-friendly site, too.

Nature’s Path Organic Sustainability Report
One of the most readable, user-friendly documents on the subject that I have yet found. Not a thick corporate tome, but practical and warm. All from a great family company that continues to buck the Big Food Corp trend. Scroll down the page to read it onscreen in a virtual-magazine format. Buy their food, too.

GreenDeal.ca by London Drugs
Another shameless self-promo, I guess. (Copy and branding by Unicycle Creative) But as an overview for a retailer who is doing some great things, it’s one client case I love to share. Green products, package take-back and even styrofoam recycling. Everyone should shop there.

Patagonia Footprint Chronicles
Ever want to know where that sweater came from? Follow along on this visually-compelling site. A great supply-chain primer for anyone wanting to understand more about the effects of globalization on manufacturing.

Sustainable Brands Conference
This is my favourite annual event for green marketing, and the people who put it on, (Sustainable Life Media) do a great job of maintaining the network of professionals all year long. Click to see my video below from the 2011 event for an idea of what it is like.

Nike Better World
OK, I know, the old Nike marketing example. But they DO a great job, despite all the money and resources they have at their disposal. I love the way they link sports to a better world, and for an inside look at how they are planning to embed sustainability throughout the organization, check out their internal launch video as well. Narrated by CEO Phil Knight, no less.

So what’s YOUR favourite sustainability or branding link?
Share and I’ll send you a prize*

(*Quantities limited, not for resale, prize must be accepted as offered, no rainchecks, void where prohibited, and oh yeah, I may forget…)

Basic Idea 1: Avoid the general, go for the specific. By now we should all know that terms like ‘Eco-Friendly’, ‘Natural’, ‘Planet-Friendly’, ‘Green’ and ‘Whale-Lovin’ are pretty vague. OK, I made the last one up. But you get the idea. If you have a legitimate claim, spell it out. Better yet, get your product or service certified by a legitimate third-party organization.

Basic Idea 2: Pay close attention to the ‘able’ in Compostable, Degradable and Recyclable. If your product only breaks down in a large scale, commercial composting facility, better make sure there’s one nearby that your customers can get it to on garbage day if you want to call it ‘compostable’ without further explanation. Same goes for ‘recyclable’. Unqualified recyclable claims should only be made where product or package can be  recovered from the solid-waste stream through a recycling program for reuse or use in manufacturing. Otherwise you have to say something like ‘recyclable where facilities exist’ – which is quite lame.

Basic Idea 3: Don’t claim your product is ‘Free Of’ one toxin if you’ve replaced it with another. There are more synthetic chemicals these days than you can shake a test tube at. If you are removing the bad-boy ingredient of the week and adding something else that does the same thing, better make sure it doesn’t have the same M.O. And no shady semantics with taking stuff out that has nothing to do with the category. ‘PVC-Free Applesauce’ might get you a visit from the FTC.

If you are in Canada, ignore the above. Apparently, our fair nation trusts its manufacturers and snake-oil salesmen a lot more, because even though we launched some similar ‘DRAFT’ legislation back in 2008, it does not seem to yet have been given teeth.

But why not just do it right-ish in the first place? You may have to export to the US or Europe someday, and in the meantime, your Green Karma will build nicely.

We wish to thank producer Shelley Stevens, Director and Cinematographer Don Barnard and our talented friend Hermann Fruhm, who was the stunt double for Dr. Von Hunn. For more information on commuting options, please visit http://www.crazyzustainablecommute.org

An Emily Carr Art Student Installation I think

Biking the Greenway to a meeting in East Van, I spotted this news box outside the Emily Carr University of Art campus. Nice work, whoever. You got it in one.

Talk about something right under my nose. I have had this ‘stuff’ box for about 3 years, but it wasn’t until just now that I realized it was trying to tell me something. It’s boxy facial expression conveys perfectly the ambivalent boredom of stuff. Sigh.