Post Oak Opinion: 2009

Thursday, September 03, 2009

I received an email this afternoon promoting a product that claimed to have triple certification for "fair trade" and other properties. When I followed the link to the website there was no certification mark of any type from any certification entity, let alone any independent third party agency. Having been a subscriber to the well known publication that sponsered the email, I was very disappointed to see them associated with what appears to be "greenwashing". While this will not cause me to cancel my subscription, it likely will result in a letter to the editor and probably a comment to the company.

This lack of attention to detail and not publishing readily and obvious certification verification, is a major reason for the loss of credibility for certified products and green claims in general. Fair trade is an ambiguous term anyway, and to not post a certification logo to substantiate the claims, just adds to the confusion.

Monday, August 31, 2009

I have just setup mobile posts to my blog. This will allow me to post more frequently but in smaller installments. Sustainability is an emerging field with much room for growth. I'm excited to be a part of this brave new world. Thank you for stopping by.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sustainability Part 2 - Credibility

Looking back, it is difficult to believe that two months have passed since my last post. Well so much for good intentions, and posting frequently. I have had an incredible three months at work. Receiving two more Cradle to Cradle^SM certifications on different product lines, has been rewarding, but also demanding of my time. Three more product lines have been submitted or are currently being completed for submission.

During the last couple of months I have also initiated tests and process evaluations for indoor air quality certifications, with two different certification agencies. One agency is an independent third party certification, while the other is for a second party certification.

In the world of “green” or “sustainablity” certifications there are three different levels. The first is self certification, where you build and test your own products to your own standards or some existing standard. These claims have little credibility and in todays marketplace of skepticism concerning “green” or “sustainability;” products so labeled have little additional market value over their non-sustainable competition.

Second party certifications, or test certifications are those that are made by a testing laboratory or agency certifying that your product, based on a particular test meets a certain standard. This certification means that for the particular product tested, you met whatever standard that was targeted.

Independent third party certifications, are those that not only test your product, to ensure it passed a particular standard, but also evaluated your processes and procedures to ensure that you manufacture your product the way you say you do, and do so the same way each production run. This is the most expensive certification type, but has the most validity. Also independent third party certifications, give greater protection from deceptive advertising claims than either of the two previous types.

As a side note here, any "green" claims made without certifications, based on vague or low standards or without standards, are just marketing hype, and subject to close scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as ‘Greenwashing.” “Greenwashing,” in laypersons terms, is defined as unsubstantiated and deceptive marketing claims, which would lead a person, wishing to make a purchase that is safer for the environment, human health, or is supposedly sustainable, to purchase the bogus product. The FTC has begun cracking down on such marketing practices and will use those they find as deceptive, to make examples of, to the rest of commerce.

The Cradle to Cradle certification mentioned at the outset, is what I consider a sustainability certification. Sustainability, generally is defined as not requiring non-renewable resources for the production of your product. This means that the materials, energy, and even water used in the product or its production process can be reused, recycled, or returned to nature in a state that is harmless and beneficial to the cycle of life.

Sustainability has also begun to include social responsibility, which is a term that will be addressed in later posts. I use the plural here, because social responsibility is a large and very complex subject, and could not be addressed fully in one or even two posts. Social responsibility loosely defined is dealing fairly and transparently with people of all cultures and part of the world where one conducts business.

The indoor air quality certifications referenced above, are within the classification of “green” certifications, but deal more with providing a product that is safe for a particular situation of environment. The indoor air quality certifications I am pursuing will validate our claims that the products meet one or many government, association, or independent assessment body multi-layered standards. In this particular case the products will be certified as meeting indoor air quality standards for use in school classrooms.

My Director of Sustainability role in this process, is selecting and submitting products to certification agencies for testing, evaluation, and certification, so that our marketing claims are valid and represent accurately our product and its production process. This requires providing documentation, handling onsite audits, and collecting, properly packaging, and submitting for testing, production run samples of certification candidate products.

The certification process is only a small part of the job. There are other parts of the business that are so closely allied with sustainability or producing healthy products, that in a company the size of the one, at which I work, the sustainability director will also fill other roles. Some of these additional roles are government regulatory compliance, quality management, employee safety and social responsibility, sustainable practices development and implementation, and waste reduction.

I hope that this brief glimpse into a tiny part, of the world of green products and sustainability has been beneficial and interesting. If you have comments or questions, concerning any of the above, please do not hesitate to post them here.

You may notice that the font used today is different from those in previous posts. This is because I am experimenting with different fonts to find the most easily readable. If you have suggestions on fonts styles and sizes please comment below.

Cradle to Cradle^SM is a service mark of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Sustainability Part 1

While I still do copywriting of a fashion, for my current employer, I have closed my resume and copywriting services for the public, for the moment. I have been presented the opportunity to work on a new facet of American Corporate Culture.

This new growing part of the business, whether corporate, sole-proprietor, or any other type in between the two, is sustainability. This is certainly not a new term or concept, but it has evolved into a more multi-level business paradigm and imperative.

Sustainability’s base connotation, in this blog series, describes morphing from consumerism and cradle-to-grave waste of non-renewable resources, to a systematic process of reclamation, reuse, and recycling. Business people have begun embracing the concept, each with their own particular spin and self-interest based interpretation.

At the outset, let me state for the record that I am not the foremost expert on sustainability, but I do have expertise and thoughts on the subject, and have lived more or less sustainably for a large part of my life. As someone who deals with sustainability each day and sees the difference in ideas and concepts associated with it, I need an outlet for my thoughts and ideas concerning the subject. That is the purpose behind this blog. It is a venue for thoughtful expression of my take on the subject of sustainability.

First, to understand sustainability, it is necessary to define what the term does not include. Sustainability is not just recycling, reusing, and conserving resources, only when it feels good, or is convenient. Sustainability is not a thing, or some abstract philosophical concept.

Sustainability is life, active and vibrant, emanating from all living things and beings, when they follow nature’s design and rules. Under this system, only catastrophic natural events like volcanoes, asteroids striking the earth, or other large scale destructive events, whether regional or global, or perhaps natural evolutionary processes, can disrupt the rhythm and continuance of life.

However, throw destructive human behavior, unbridled human materialism, and consumerism into the process, and the whole system suddenly is no longer able to sustain itself. While the process may take decades to play itself out, and starts slowly, it degenerates into an exponentially growing avalanche of species extinction, deforestation, lost non-renewable resources, possible global warming, and a planet covered with landfills. Base the global economy on an expanding base of consumerism, and the process degenerates explosively.

Over the coming weeks I have several thoughts to put forward for consideration, concerning sustainability. Please add your comments, and topics that you may want to discuss in more detail.