It’s no secret that getting some of the lead out of your foot gives you better gas mileage. But just how much better may surprise you. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal on ‘Eco-Driving’ documents one woman’s gas mileage increasing from 15mpg to 21 – a saving of ...
Dead Polar Bear Scale – The latest in eco-labeling.
In an effort to stay at the forefront of environmental product communication, Unicycle Creative is proud to launch a new worldwide standard for eco-labeling, the Dead Polar Bear Scale (DPB) “It’s a way for consumers to really know what they’re buying into from a climate perspective,” Says Unicycle President Lorne ...
Green purchasing poised to thrive in meltdown… Marketers: don’t screw it up.
Consumers are cutting back everywhere these days, but one 2009 study shows they intend to buy as green as ever. According to the Cone 2009 Consumer Environmental Survey, 44% of US consumers say they are making the same green purchases as when their stocks were flying, and 34% are actually ...
Recycle your brand – with an ad medium that keeps on giving.
This was one of those ideas that made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it. You have machines to sell aluminum cans of soda and plastic bottles of water, so why not offer the same convenience for recycling your empties and getting any deposit back? Turns out a Norwegian-based ...
Mmmmmmm…. Garbage….
In 1995, a young diver named Chad Pregracke decided to clean up the Mississippi River – armed with just one boat and a boatload of nerve. His organization, Living Lands and Waters, has since grown into a national crusade, with thousands of volunteers picking up millions of pounds of garbage ...
Detroit’s big-dick auto show cars now have much less sway.
Like steroid-pumping weightlifters at an academic dinner party, the traditional auto show muscle car stars are looking more than a little out of place. At least that’s the report from the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show. This is the kind of event where auto makers roll out their flashiest new ...
The ultimate recession-proof claim: “Our products actually won’t poison you!”
One by one, news stories are surfacing that are waking consumers up to the fragility of the globalized manufacturing chain. In China, melamine-tainted milk was responsible for six babies dying and some 300,000 cases of kidney infection. In Canada, the federal government recently placed on its list of toxic substances ...
Recession killing your high-end products? Try marketing your junk.
I was wandering blissfully through my local supermarket when a magazine caught my eye. ‘Junk Beautiful’ it proudly proclaimed. And with its clean, well-styled photography, and a decent design, this magazine/DVD bundle actually does fair justice to its title. What’s more, it has lessons for any company that is facing ...
Where does green turn in a downturn?
It seems like just yesterday we were ushering in a brave new era of environmental awareness and positive behavior change. New fair-trade organic free-range recyclable products were launching daily. Hybrid cars graced Hollywood’s red carpets. The US elected a President who can actually find Global Warming on a map. Then ...
Make sense of your Eco Certifications.
These days, many corporate web sites are fairly bursting with well-intentioned fair trade, certified organic, sustainable supply-chain certification symbols. Looks great, but what does it all mean? Last week I got an e-catalogue from local clothing company Eco Apparel that answered that question. Eco Apparel is a Vancouver-based clothing manufacturer ...