‘Green’ products – do they really make a difference?

Everyone wants to do good, or says they want to do good. More consumers are gravitating towards green products and their benefits. People are more motivated than ever to make decisions that are environmentally friendly and to use products that are sustainable and less impactful on the environment. Good environmental citizenship and sustainability goals are essential considerations for all businesses today. It may seem like the latest trend but taking this step can also create a variety of benefits for business owners.

While the primary motivator for the green movement is social change and to preserve our environment and its resources for future generations, there are also economic benefits. Applying green processes to the workplace creates a healthy (and more productive) environment for workers. Reducing unnecessary waste saves money. It’s been proven that going green can give businesses a competitive edge. Companies who employ and promote green technology, products or services increase their appeal to consumers and this reaps financial rewards.

Whatever the motivator, the end result is good for the planet. Or it should be. While some products are promoted as being green, are they really and is using them going to make a difference?

Customers with good intention buy products labelled or promoted as green but they may not be getting what they think. The first issue is that there is no universal definition of green. It is open for interpretation and not governed by any specific requirements. Being green means different things to different people and organisations. Businesses can promote themselves or a product as green based on a variety of attributes.

These include:

• How the product or its ingredients are sourced – be it from a renewable vs a non- renewable resource

• The product’s composition and ingredients used

• How the product is manufactured in terms of energy consumption, emissions and waste

• Packaging and supply chain

• How the product can be disposed of at the end of its life cycle or the impact it has on the environment when it
is disposed.

It can even be that a product is defined as green, based only on comparison, i.e. product A is less impactful on the environment than product B.

It is a challenging for the wide format print industry to find and use green media. The most popular substrate is PVC, a plastic, derived from a non-renewable resource that contains toxins and additives which will eventually be released into the environment. It is difficult to recycle, if at all, especially when coated with adhesive. Printed media goes to landfill where it languishes for 100s of years. Paper liners that go to landfill also impact on the environment. While paper will break down, the way they break down in a landfill environment (compacted in the absence of air) generates carbon dioxide and methane.

The decomposition of organic materials   under   anaerobic   conditions   in landfills   results in the generation of   carbon dioxide and methane   (a   powerful greenhouse gas),  in  approximately equal   proportions.

To fully appreciate products that are promoted as being green media, eco-friendly or sustainable and discover why they are labelled that way, we need to go deeper to look at the specific attributes of the product and not just the composition. Non-PVC products are promoted as sustainable or green alternatives. The primary advantage of these products can simply be that they are not PVC and do not contain any of the associated harmful ingredients. It is a better choice but only relatively. Most of these alternatives are still plastics and if sent to landfill will have the same environmental impact.

If your customer’s environmental goal is sustainability and reducing waste, then the value proposition of just doing better by design may fall short of what they are looking for. In this scenario the value would be enhanced by recycling. The net green impact of a product is just as important a consideration as the product itself if not more.

I see products promoted as recyclable, biodegradable or compostable but if there is no infrastructure or ability to get these products recycled or the disposal environment isn’t conducive to the product breaking down then the recycling value of the product is redundant. To sell it based on these features is at best misleading.

Written by Denise Kirby

Denise Kirby has over 27 years experience as a supplier of self adhesive products to the sign and print industry. Initially starting out in the family business as a distributor of  consumables she went on to work for leading self adhesive manufacturers in marketing , business and product development roles across Australia and New Zealand.  She now has her own business, Kirbyco, which focuses on environmentally friendly, recyclable and sustainable print solutions.

Denise is highly passionate about the industry and enjoys writing about applications and opportunities in print in and signage with the goal of inspiring people to explore new creative and functional opportunities with film as well as educating the industry on products, trends and new innovations.