Going green was going really well until last fall. With the sudden drop in post consumer recycled products, should a company keep the green or eco message attached to their marketing and public relations messages? Absolutely.
Green Market Crash
News reports across the country are showing that the slumping global market has slowed down the production of consumer products such as cars, carpets, appliances, clothing and hundreds of other consumables. The need for packaging materials is down. Companies are using less paper for printing. Manufacturers are using less raw materials.
This slow down requires far less demand for recycled products and has generated a surplus of recycled materials for purchase.
Cities or communities that collect recyclables and then resell them to supplement their budgets are hurting the most. The daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin reported at thedailypage.com that the city’s waste management will be making $100,000 less now on their recycle project than it did in the past--money that was used to pay for the sorting and processing of the recyclables collected.
The St. Petersburg Times reporter Leonora LaPeter Anton (www.tampabay.com, Monday, December 22, 2008) wrote “Good news: We’re recycling more than ever before. Bad news: No on wants to buy it.”
On the plus side, the abundance of recyclable materials should help bring down the cost of buying post-consumer products such as printer paper.
Go Green Commitment
If a company went green or is deciding to go green, it has to be more of a commitment than just to make it look good in the marketing and public relations messages. So now when the recycled goods market is down, all those companies that have made that green commitment to recycle or reuse, need to stay with it and stay green.
In mid-December during a flight on Continental Airlines, after the in-flight drinks and snacks were consumed by the passengers, the flight attendant asked that everyone separate their paper, plastic or metal so that the attendants could quickly collect those items for the appropriate recycle receptacles.
Continental is still promoting and participating in recycling even during the green market crash. It was a great message to send to their customers. And, just imaging the amount of recyclables collected throughout all of their flights every day. That is commitment and that is a good public relations message.
Green Market Will Resurge with Economy
Those surplus stacks of newspaper and bins of used cans will quickly diminish when the economy begins its surge back to the plus side.
Those companies that continued their commitment to eco-friendly practices through the tough times will prove to their consumers that going green is more than just a marketing gimmick or a public relations spin.
The green market will get better. So, stay green and keep green in the marketing and public relations message.
 |
