This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.
As I wrote about in Just The Facts Please, the use of facts in marketing, especially when talking about green issues, is very powerful. Facts that can be supported by a clear and trusted source are often the best way to educate and win over clients.
This is an idea that Jeff Kiec, LEED-AP, Principal at Urban Sustainable Solutions has seen work time and again in the real world. Urban Sustainable Solutions assists companies in developing processes that help reduce their costs and their impact on the environment. Over the course of his time in this business Jeff noticed he was collecting a lot of facts about how different actions and materials impact the environment and the bottom line.
Well Jeff started to write them down.
What exists now is a concise booklet of 300 facts called the HOUSEHOLD SUSTAINABILITY TIP GUIDE. It is the first of a few such tip guides Jeff has started to publish.
Some entries.
- Remove dead weight from the car. 100 extra pounds in the vehicle can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 4% a year. 4% is equal to two full tanks of gas a year if you fill up once a week for 52 weeks.
- Plant trees to shade the east, south and west faces of the home to help block the sun’s heat in the summer time. To maximize the benefit of the trees, plant trees that lose their leaves during the winter months which will allow sunlight to provide added heat to your home. Shade can reduce energy bills by 5% to 10% in the summer.
- Reduce your carbon footprint while grilling. According to Treehugger.com a charcoal grill will produce 11 lbs. of CO2 per hour, a propane grill will produce 6 lbs. per hour, and a solar cooker will produce 0 lbs. over its lifetime. The following fuel sources are in descending order of their GHG emissions: charcoal briquettes, all natural wood charcoal, propane, electric grill, and solar cooker.
Some of the facts you will have heard before, some will be new to you, but the main advantage is a quick reference guide when writing your marketing plans and presentations.
The 5” x7” pocket‐guide is printed on 100% recycled paper and available with the Urban Sustainable Solutions logo or it can be printed as a private labeled product with your business name on the cover, as an inexpensive marketing tool for businesses looking to separate themselves in the rapidly growing green market. The booklet has proved very popular to realtors, financial planners, and cleaning companies. I think all can see a lot of potential for use by Ecopreneurists as well.
Most of the suggestions are inexpensive or free to implement and are easy to incorporate into daily personal routines. Also important, many of these suggestions will save a significant amount of money for many years to come.
For more information on the guides contact Jeff Kiec. For information on getting these facts printed onto promotional items like totes, shirts and notepads, email info@proformagreen.com.
Adventures in Green Marketing 
The three advices were amazing. If the rest of the facts are remotely as good as these three, you’ve got gold, sir.
What are some of the ways in which these facts can support marketing presentations? As in, what audience do you envision? It’s great how you use facts to bolster your own arguments here, but how do you intend your audience to use these facts, other than to make useful changes in their own lives?