Australian Paper

Dispelling the preconception that ecodesigners are an overtly earnest bunch, Leyla Acaroglu’s short animation Life Pscycle- logy tells the life (cycle) story of a depressed mobile phone, that undergoes therapy after being dumped for a new model.

“It’s about taking a fun approach to a serious subject,” says Acaroglu. “I want to inspire people to become part of the solution, rather than the problem. Every day, thousands of products roll off the production line, and very few have been designed with sustainability in mind.”

Life Pscycle-ology is the first animation in a series, The Secret Life of Things, that explores the hidden environmental impacts of everyday things. The next two instalments slated with animator Nick Kallincos are on planned obsolescence and exploring material comparison. Each video comes with a free downloadable resource aimed at informing and educating young designers.

As with so many projects, The Secret Life of Things was borne out of frustration. “After spending many years promoting sustainable design, I was frustrated by the lack of engaging resources out there,” says Acaroglu.

 As a product design student at Enmore in Sydney she found little in the way of a holistic approach to design. But then she read Victor Papenek’s Green Imperative “Every designer should read it. It was one of those periods in life where you have to reconsider everything you’ve done and will do,” she says. “I decided to do eco design.” She moved to Melbourne to study social science and at RMIT’s Centre for Design she learnt lifecycle assessment, and wrote ‘What is eco design?’ for Design Victoria. Meanwhile she won seed funding from the British Council’s Big Green Idea competition to produce The Secret Life of Things.

“Animation is a great medium to communicate,” the 27 year old says. “It’s like design itself. Designers design a product so that it has a life and an identity. That’s what we’ve tried to do with the animation.”

The film and learning resources are currently undergoing before-and-after tests at six Australian universities.

“Ecodesign has a massive PR problem,” says Acaroglu, who has also established her own eco design consultancy, Eco Innovators. “What I’m trying to show is this is a creative, fun and challenging job, and it’s not that complicated. We just need to think about these things. With The Secret Life of Things we’re trying to open it up and demystify it.

www.thesecretlifeofthings.com

www.ecoinnovators.com.au

Olivia Schmid of DNA Creative recalls a feeling of “hitting the jackpot” when she came across Dalton’s Revive Creative range. “There was more pressure to use a stock with high green credentials, and we could find that overseas,” she said, “but by the time it got to Australia all the benefit was wasted.”

The environmental benefits of the Revive Creative range exceed the ordinary by being certified carbon neutral and greenhouse friendly by the Department of Climate Change, as well as FSC® Certified, and comprising 70% recycled stock made from Australian waste. The range comes with the ability to quantify CO2e savings from the paper, which Schmid finds to be an “impressive and eye-opening tool” in sharing her environmental concerns with clients and suppliers. She says it is encouraging for printers who can see the benefits, and work towards bringing down costs to make it both “a financially sustainable and socially responsible choice”.

Using the range in a new identity for the Australian Music Centre in 2009, Schmid is impressed with the technical qualities of the stock, and finds it has its own characteristic warmth and “tactile look” to it. Combined with a carbon neutral profile and the tools available to share the environmental benefits with her clients, Schmid and her team remain excited about the discovery of Revive Creative.

“Dealing with an organisation that is all about books, writing and ideas, it was important that the tactile quality of the programme make it something people would want to hang on to,” says Andrew Paoli of Paoli Smith. “With the sustainability of Saxton, we found a perfect fit.”

Commissioned to develop the identity and launch campaign for the newly created Wheeler Centre, Paoli was looking for an Australian made stock that would exemplify the quality of the brand while giving consistent results over an extensive print campaign. Manufactured at Shoalhaven, NSW, Saxton is a choice that drives value for Australian communities, minimises environmental impacts and delivers results of an international standard. Challenged by their client’s goal to find “better ways of contributing to a more sustainable tomorrow,” Saxton offered Paoli a choice with clear environmental and social benefits. Government certified Carbon Neutral under the NCOS and FSC® Mixed Sources, Saxton is one of the most sustainable Australian made papers in the Spicers range.

Driven by a need to showcase the quality of the brand, Paoli was looking for a stock that would maintain colour consistency while rolling out such an extensive campaign. Paoli remarks, “We find Saxton delivers a high quality result each time.”

“Most people have this idea of bamboo furniture as something out of Gilligan’s Island,” says Australian furniture designer Kent Gration. “I wanted to show how to use this sustainable material and make it look good.” Not wanting to look obviously sustainable, Gration’s Wambamboo label has a frathouse luau style logo.

Meanwhile the furniture draws on Modernist principles of elegant simplicity. The combination won Gration Queensland Emerging Designer of the Year in the 2010 Premier’s Design Awards. His Krypto lights look like the icy crystals from Superman’s planet Krypton and are made from the shards and offcuts from his other furniture, such as his Zhu lights. Chinese for bamboo the Zhu lights resemble bamboo clutches. They come in upright and pendant forms with a bamboo veneer that emits a warm glow. Because local bamboo isn’t strong enough, and the Chinese variety is considered a weed in Australia, Gration has to source his material overseas and assemble it here. “Bamboo’s not the holy grail for all products, but it’s versatile and a rapidly renewable material,” says Gration.

www.wambamboo.com.au

At the recent Australian Catalogue Association awards, Paddy Pallin secured the prestigious “Catalogue of the Year” award for their exceptional Winter 2010 catalogue.

Care for the environment is one of the cornerstones of Paddy Pallin. Ever since Paddy Pallin was set up in 1930, both Paddy Pallin the company and Paddy Pallin the man have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability. This commitment is now carried on by current owners, Robert and Nancy Pallin, and is a crucial part of their triple-bottom-line approach to doing business.

This sustainable approach also extended to their paper stock selection for the Winter 2010 catalogue. For many years, Paddy Pallin had used recycled paper to print their catalogues. They then re-assessed the environmental impact of transporting recycled paper from Europe, as well as the whole paper recycling process. The decision was then made to use a stock which better reflected the sustainable objectives of the company, and thus Australian made ENVI Matt was adopted.

“What made ENVI paper the ideal solution to our concerns was the combination of being Australian made, that it held PEFC certification and the option for it to be 100% Carbon Neutral. Not only did we achieve an improved environmental solution, we got a catalogue that looks and feels great. At Paddy Pallin we couldn’t be happier with the results.” – Jemima Robinson, Marketing Manager.

Take a look at the award winning Paddy Pallin catalogue.

http://www.paddypallin.com.au/default.aspx?page=260

http://www.catalogue.asn.au/awards/past-winners

Keep your eyes out for Paddy Pallin’s Summer 2010 Handbook also – in store from 20^th of September. The handbook is jam-packed with information on old Paddymade gear, club member stories, etc. Paddy Pallin’s Summer 2010 catalogue is printed on Australian Made, Carbon Neutral ENVI paper.

“[Australia] should be better regarded as a dynamic and creative nation, a good global citizen and a strong business partner,” Trade Minister Simon Crean declared during his May announcement of the new $20 million Australia Unlimited brand.

Wanting Australia to be viewed for its brains and not just its beauty as a quickie holiday destination, Crean added: “We want greater international recognition of our many achievements. These achievements include 11 Nobel prize winners, WiFi  technology, the bionic ear and a vaccine for cervical cancer.”

The new brand created by M&C Saatchi cost $4 million and will have another $16 million spent promoting it. The first stages of which were spent launching at the Shanghai Expo and the World Cup in South Africa.

M&C Saatchi has the pedigree. They created the popular and recognisable 100% Pure New Zealand campaign. Australia Unlimited uses arrows to suggest both limitless opportunity and export. Another reading is one of brackets suggesting multicultural inclusiveness.

It would be premature to judge its effectiveness. And as Australian Graphic Design Association National President Brenton  Murray says, “That’s the beauty of design. If you rang 100 people you’d find 30 that loved it, 30 that hated it and the rest were not too fussed. You’ve got to imagine it sitting across all industries and not look silly on a new drug or technology we’ve created. It would sit well on anything.”

One critic of the logo, rather than the intent, is Australian Made Australian Grown’s CEO Ian Harrison. He believes it’s too obscure: “For better or worse [Australia’s] known for the kangaroo. Why throw it away?”

More saliently Harrison argues that the Australia Unlimited logo “presents yet another image for international people to recognise and connect with Australia’’. And he doesn’t mean it in a good way. It confuses the public.

A better use of the ‘unlimited’ money would have been spent reinforcing the Australian Made campaign, he believes. Recognised as a superbrand, the Australian Made logo created by Ken Cato in 1986 has supported a campaign to buy Australian made and grown products. The logo appears on some 10,000 products and is exported to 30 countries.

“The AMAG logo, with its 24 year market capital, would have provided that connection with Australia and as well would have created the important link between Australia Unlimited and the thousands of products and produce Australian exporters are seeking to sell around the world.”

In 2007/08 the Industry Capability Network recorded $328.3 million in orders to Australian industry. For every million dollars spent it contributes 10 full time jobs, raises over quarter of a million in taxes that go into improving our lifestyle.

To staunch the flow of manufacturing to foreign shores and encourage business campaigns like Australian Made and Australia Unlimited help, but can only do so much. Actively declaring that our products are cleaner, better made, and encourage less polluting, requires money that the Australian Made campaign doesn’t have. And while the Australia Unlimited currently has a reasonable budget, as a government department it can’t push the Australian made line harder for fear of appearing protectionist.

“[Australia is] lily white and I think we bend over too far on our blind compliance [to the World Trade Organisation],” says Harrison. “In that context the government is reluctant to come out and support a ‘buy Australian’ campaign. Or to argue about things like sustainability and food miles and environmental considerations or something that will last.”

Meanwhile State governments like Queensland and Victoria recognise the importance of design in adding value to manufacturing and the economy. Victoria, the only state with longitudinal figures, reports in Five Years On that design contributes annually some $300 million to the Victorian economy. Which begs the question, if design is so important to our economies, why isn’t it handled on a federal level? The 2007 Cutler Report of the National Innovation System mentions design

once, says Design Victoria Director Michele Azzopardi.

Where Australian Made defines its products as made, not just designed, in Australia, Design Victoria sees no problem with supporting both. It endorses exporting design alongside a homegrown manufacturing industry.

“Designers in Australia could be exporting their services,” says Azzopardi. “The creativity and the knowledge and the intellectual property belongs in Australia, but someone else manufactures it, we don’t see that as an issue. We see that as part of the future.”

After 28 years Finsbury printing went on a ‘low carb’ diet, added the weight of ‘green’ to its name, and set about building its brand. The journey has taken 10 years. Now it is emblematic of a sustainable business. Since then it has devoutly spread the green gospel. For the past six years the company has produced an audited sustainability report. It also produces a guide to every available green paper in Australia. Finsbury Green’s National Environmental and Technical Manager Rod Wade discusses its diet.

What are Finsbury Green’s environmental credentials?

It’s about the sum of its parts, it’s not one or two credentials. There’s all the certifications. The industry pioneering printing practices: no alcohol, and vegetable based inks. Our sustainability report remains the only legitimate sustainability report by any printing company in Australia. That is our sixth sustainability report. Our Green Paper Guide lists all the paper merchants and rates all the stocks on its green credentials. It provides background about sustainable paper, third-party certification and how paper is made.

A big focus has been about educating designers?

Rather than tell people how good we were, we’ve spent a lot of effort educating people about certifications, paper, environmental practice and the CO2 story. The last two years havebeen spent educating about how do you determine who is legitimate. There’s a hell of a lot of greenwashing out there.

How do you determine who is legitimate?

We’ve developed the Finsbury Green Green Star Rating system, a questionnaire on our website. Designers confused by hype can say to a printer, ‘Fill out this questionnaire and then I can make a better informed choice on who I want to work with’.

Is the Green Star Rating based on auditing procedures your company has gone through?

Correct. It covers waste management systems, carbon status, credentials and specific printing practice: do they use alcohol to make their plates, do they use vegetable inks. You can fill it out in 10 minutes and get a fairly accurate report on where they stand. It also gives a CO2 rating.

How important is third-party verification?

Absolutely important.

Which are the most important logos to look for in a supplier?

ISO14001 environmental management system at the very minimum. If you’ve gone that far, ISO 9001 (which is the quality management system) is also mandatory. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council certification) would be another mandatory certification, in terms of chain of custody papers. The next most important thing is for people to report on their CO2 footprint. Any business should be meeting those at a minimum before they even start talking about their ‘greenness’.

What are the benefits of being Australian made?

The trend 10 years ago was for a lot of magazine work to go offshore. That’s changing partly because of the lead times that are increased by printing offshore. The issue now is if we have some sort of carbon trading scheme in Australia, printing offshore will have to account for transportation and all the stuff that’s done there. That’s going to impact on decisions about the supply chain. But that’s less of a challenge compared to correcting the misconception that electronic communications are greenerthan print. There’s a lot of work being done to settle the factually incorrect myth that print has a bigger CO2 footprint than electronic.

Where is the biggest cost saver for you in going green?

Isopropyl alcohol is one of the key contributors to volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, which is the biggest emission outside electricity from our industry. We’ve been alcohol free for four years.

What is your advice for designers wanting to be sustainable?

Take time to understand the new carbon economy and challenge yourselves and your studios to become low carb. Don’t engage in greenwashing. It is only through transparency and truthfulness that companies can avoid the accusations of greenwashing. You can’t put a lettuce in a butcher’s shop window and declare that you’ve become vegetarian. The more pressure designers put on all print providers, including the ‘green washers’ to improve their environmental practices, the better.