Australian Paper

 You’ve still got mail. The advertising media landscape has changed dramatically over the years. And yet traditional media, like unaddressed mail, continues to thrive. Ken Bishop, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Catalogue Association, explains the appeal of print vs digital media.

What percentage of advertising and marketing is constituted by unaddressed mail?

It’s a $2 billion industry. We are probably between one sixth and one seventh of the industry spend, which is fairly significant.

Have consumer habits changed in the digital age, regarding unaddressed mail?

Consumers seem to embrace more and more media. Over the last eight years catalogue volumes have increased year on year. Even with newer digital media, research suggests people are consuming media in a complementary way. The media supports each other. Retailers continue to do TVC and radio, yet you often read or hear at the end of the ad, ‘catalogue out now’. Billboards also reinforce that cross-pollination of media platforms.

So what is the catalogue’s role?

Some companies see catalogues as brand reinforcement. It’s almost subliminal branding. They may not need something immediately, but once there is a need for something, they then jump on line. That, to me, is complete complementarity with one another.

Is there a particular audience that can only be reached via unaddressed mail?

The stats are strong that 70% of people after reading a catalogue make a considered purchase. Grocery catalogues have a high readership and response rate, but it depends on demographics. It’s driven by different needs and requirements.

How has unaddressed mail changed since the digital age?

A lot of people still think catalogues are a ‘mass drop’ – just a shotgun that reaches as far and as wide as possible. It’s quite the contrary. Even though the volumes are significant the targeted understanding and the knowledge the distribution companies and retailers have of particular postcodes to communicate with the right customers, at the right time, to the right product, is pretty sophisticated. It cuts down waste and also the retailer is only spending what they need to.

Has the way catalogues are designed and presented changed?

Certainly the design and presentation has changed. We’ve all got shorter attention spans. Retailers can get their brand, products and whatever message they’re trying to get across more quickly. The design, placement and presentation

is a new world. Certain groups consume that information faster.

Will it ever go completely digital?

Our research suggests people still like to engage in that tactile experience of paper. There’s still something about the human psyche that enjoys that ability to touch and feel.

Has there been an increase in packaging to achieve ‘cut through’?

It’s still a relatively simple medium in terms of packaging. It’s still put through your letterbox. It’s all down to design and targeting. The old days of saying ‘let’s put everything into it and hope they read it and buy it’ have gone. Research from 2009 told us that a catalogue stays in the home on average between 2–5 days, and quite often is read by 2–3 people. That’s a decent shelf life for something not considered anything more than just underaddressed mail. It obviously has some repeat attendance. That’s one of its strong merits and obviously the brand and product owners believe that too.

What sustainable practices does the catalogue association require or encourage?

All the paper in the Australian catalogue market comes from sustainable plantation timbers. Catalogues are 100 % recyclable and nearly 70% of catalogues are recycled via kerbside collection. It adds value to the recycling stream.

How do the lifecycle assessments of digital marketing compare with print?

I get very disturbed when I hear people saying I can look at catalogues on line for half the night, and have no awareness that that has a carbon footprint as well. There’s a great big power station in Yallourn burning coal so we can all stare at our computer. And then when we throw [the computer] out every two or three years it doesn’t end up as ‘pretty’ in landfill as paper does.

“There are two ways can go with sustainability,” says architect and designer Toby Horrocks. “Design something so robust that it never gets thrown out, which fights the consumerist trend. Or you could go with it, and change all the time by making your product from recycled sources.” Such is the pragmatic philosophy that drives Horrocks’ Freefold designs.

Made from recycled  cardboard his fold down interiors and shelving are an antidote to what he has seen around him while living and working in the CBD – skips full of dumped interior fittings.

Embracing the natural human impulse to consume, Horrocks has built a modular interior that can be recycled when boredom or a new tenant arrives. An experimental prototype, which resembles a theatre set, was built for the 2010 State of Design festival installation Look Stop Shop, together with Sydney-based designer Kristian Aus. The work has led to a commission to design another popup, this time a juice-tasting stand at a shopping mall. 

Horrocks has been experimenting with post-consumer waste cardboard furniture and modular systems full time since leaving award-winning architect John Wardle. Horrocks was Research and Development architect with Wardle, a practice renowned for its detailing.

Working with repeatable modular patterns for walls and windows was, in its own way, part of being “drenched” in the computer modelling he would undertake for his modular shelving systems. Further evidence of the repeatable patterning we see in public architecture can be seen on the reverse side of his modular shelving, which act as room dividers and screens.

“Computer modelling is my realm. I’m not hands on folding paper,” he says. While experimenting with computer modelling he designed a “beautiful geometry” for a shelving system, but wanted it more lightweight than plywood, and less expensive than a South African Xanita Exboard he’d been testing. He found that local cardboard could be used cheaper and more effectively. The revised modular systems are made from 1.8 mm thick cardboard and allow “nice sharp folds – it’s more like origami,” says Horrocks.

As well as Freefold Furniture, he now runs his own architecture practice, Toby Horrocks Architecture. “Sustainability drives my practice,” he says. “I hope to influence the culture of waste.”

www.tobyhorrocks.com

IF Day is a national safety awareness campaign that promotes the importance of injury prevention in the workplace, home and community.  It links businesses, schools and the general community in a day of action dedicated to safety, and through the KIDS Foundation, creates a lifelong learning approach to safety so that as children transition from school to work, they are already strong advocates of safety in the workplace and their local communities.

Today Australian Paper Maryvale celebrates IF Day throughout the manufacturing operations by promoting “keep yourself and your work mates safe by following safe working procedures”. 

What are others doing?

Congratulations to the Maryvale Mill for their IF Day award winning online video entry. Check it out 

http://www.ifday.com.au/auspaper.html

Follow these links to learn more about IF Day.

www.ifday.com.au

http://www.ifday.com.au/what_is_ifday.html

Years ago – well before sustainability was becoming an important corporate and design yardstick, we began to have two bins under the desk- one for general rubbish and one for paper. This two bin system was the beginning of sustainable management for many. ‘Wasting paper’ became as much a phrase as ‘wasting water’.

Today, the way we produce paper has changed for the better and a literal forest of green logo’s and certifications abound. One product that was first to package those most important is Dalton’s ENVI range. Manufactured under the ISO 14001 standard, sourced from sustainably managed forests, utilising renewable energy and certified carbon neutral, it has established itself as one of the most sustainable paper options in Australia. As you begin to understand the complexity of sustainability reporting, the ENVI range can become both a tool for communicating your commitment to a more sustainable future, and to compass what aspects determine your impact as a business.

As a design based business, it can perhaps seem a difficult task to understand how your choices are affecting your environmental impact. As a certified carbon neutral paper range, ENVI will actually reduce your company’s carbon footprint, and help you understand how it achieves this. When you specify the ENVI range, the carbon footprint of the paper can be measured by Dalton and provided to you in period reports, or on a job-by-job basis. Providing you and your client’s with valuable information that can feed into your sustainability reporting, and in turn, core management principles.

Rohan Dean, strategic sourcing manager for Dalton, notes that further to its environmental credentials, “being Australian made is a huge benefit in many ways,” providing valuable jobs and supporting our local economy. The availability of a high-quality paper manufactured locally means that compromise is not necessary, as it once may have been, Dean says. “ENVI is competitively priced and it’s quality is up there with the best.”

Although it may seem that choosing a sustainable paper is easier than ever, it is important to be aware of the details of both the raw materials and the manufacturing standards used, as well as the place of manufacture and, of course, print quality. Be aware also of added benefits- in the case of ENVI, CO2 reporting tools and the availability of recognisable consumer logo’s. Dean outlines the simplicity of the process to use the logo’s, “Generally approvals take between 24-48 hours…it’s very quick, and helps maintain the integrity of the certification.”

 ENVI Super Smooth can help us be aware of our choices, and that will positively affect the core principles of a company when it comes to sustainability. So next time you look at the two bins under the desk, think about what paper can teach your business.

Many new businesses have grown out of the issues we face as we strive for a more sustainable future, where existing companies must adopt new values to become positive contributors. Think about the core principles in your business. It can be a huge task to rethink the way you do business, but the right strategies will become drivers for growth and long term survival.

www.lendlease.com/sustainability

www.dell.com.au

www.simsmm.com

www.westpac.com.au

www.boral.com.au

Designed as a hothouse for architectural investigation, Grocon’s Pixel building is made from recycled aluminium – its shade battens prevent the prototype office building from becoming an actual hothouse.

Native grasses on its roof filter rainwater, encourage local ecology and provide insulation, while cantilevered reed beds on the windowsills help cooling.

Three patented wind turbines designed specifically for the turbulent urban environment and winds, generate electricity and feed the excess back into the grid. Pixel is the first building to achieve a 100% green star score from the Green Building Council.

Not only does Pixel use new technologies, it also recycles many materials – like the structural steel – reducing the embodied energy of the building.

“Research suggest 6% of the world’s greenhouse gases every year is a consequence of the manufacture of cement,” says Grocon’s David Waldren. In conjunction with Boral, Grocon has developed Pixelcrete, which Waldren says has half the embodied carbon than normal.

Pixel building’s name comes by being a small building in the big picture – an image Grocon plans to upscale.

 www.pixelbuilding.com.au

“Sustainability is about working with clients who are sustainable,” says Jason Grant from the respected Queensland design practice Inkahoots.

Talk to many designers and they have varying ideas of what sustainability is. Responses vary from those who believe sustainability is simply about making something that people won’t want to throw away, to those, like Grant, who believe it’s about actually choosing who you work for.

While Grant’s ‘take no prisoners’ response sounds the more heroic, it’s not feasible for everyone. If a business is truly sustainable it will be both profitable, and not harmful to the environment. Educating clients – and potential clients along the way – is also part of the process. And if the idea of ‘creating something that lasts’ sounds slightly naïve, it does have certain merit.

“The answer to the problem of overconsumption isn’t recycling cans or green shopping, it’s changing our relationship to stuff, so that everything we use and live with is designed for zero waste and is either meant to last (“heirloom design” and “durability”) or to be shared (“product service systems”) or both,” says Alex Steffen from Worldchanging.

It’s a belief echoed by Leyla Acaroglu, founder of Eco Innovators and this issue’s ‘shining star’. “It’s not enough to be buying green electricity and recycling paper,” she says. “It’s about foundational thinking. Ecodesign is often wrongly seen as complex and costly, but in fact it’s simply good design that offers financial, social and environmental benefits. If designers embrace sustainability, we can create consumer goods with the smallest possible ecological footprint.”

In the online video and recently released book The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard outlines the process of production. The problem, she explains, is treating it as a linear system that leaves out important aspects of the process. The true hidden costs of production aren’t covered by the cheap products we buy, but are absorbed by the lack of workers’ wages and pollution into developing countries.

Using a lifecycle approach – exploring the impacts of each stage a product goes through – helps designers make informed decisions that lead to more socially and environmentally responsible products with lower carbon emissions.

As Planet Ark’s Jon Dee writes in the Sustainable Growth guide, published by Sensis, sustainability brings many benefits for small and medium businesses: reducing energy contains costs and overheads. Improving the supply chain can mean more productive relationships with suppliers. Younger, better educated (possibly more handsome, though he makes no promises) people will be attracted to companies that are sustainable. Knowing where your supply chain sources materials is essential to ensuring your corporate reputation. Being environmentally and socially proactive makes smaller companies attractive to larger companies who rely on likeminded companies as part of their own sustainable procurement policies.

It’s also about attaining a competitive advantage. While the Chinese dragon of manufacturing represents an insurmountable behemoth to many, others like Tim Piper, from the Australian Industry Group, see the challenge in finding the soft underbelly and slaying it with products of higher quality and better techniques. “Australia is not a low cost producing country, therefore we have to make sure it’s high quality,” he says. In short, it’s about creating products that last. Here too it’s a matter of self-preservation. What other chance is there? “Australians no longer buy Australian made just because it’s Australian,” he says. If done correctly, as part of a wider strategy, sustainability will deliver profitability and a platform for long-term survival.

As we celebrate award-winning sustainable design in this issue of Desktop, it is worth remembering the words from another award recipient. “We must abandon the conceit that individual, isolated, private actions are the answer,” Al Gore said in his Nobel acceptance speech. “They can and do help. But they will not take us far enough without collective action.”

Clients, designers, production people, distributors and consumers can collectively help lower the carbon footprint and ensure the sustainability of the products they create and purchase. It’s about working together to be sustainable.

 www.worldchanging.com

 www.storyofstuff.com

 www.inkahoots.com.au

Since it was established by the Victorian government in 2000, Eco-buy has developed into a national, independent, not for profit consultancy. Its diverse membership list ranges from NAB to Qantas and Origin. Andrew Foran, Eco-buy’s Manager for Client Services and Business Program discusses how Eco-buy helps organisations ‘green up’ processes around purchasing.

How does Eco-buy differ from other companies like Ecospecifier and Green Pages?

We are an independent, not for profit. We specialise in organisation, B2B purchasing. But we’re broader than that. The database supports knowledge tools, processes and practices in our member’s resources. There’s not a huge amount that’s free beyond the database.

What templates will members find?

Most valuable are the documentary templates, product category guides, and checklist tips.

Should people – or businesses – work collectively toward sustainable solutions?

It’s about working collaboratively rather than collectively – getting competing companies in the same room. The underlying theme is collaboration.

Do companies pay to list products on your database?

They have to pay an annual listing fee of $200.

What eco-labels do you look for on these products?

It depends on the product category. GECA, energy and water rating stars. Fair trade, green power and organic labels. We also look at comparable or competing products – what else is in the market place.

Why?

Because in some cases a product with a small environmental attribute can be leading the category.

Would you remove them as better products came to market?

Absolutely, it’s a dynamic space. There’s no such thing as a green product, there are greener products. As we make them greener, things move along. We’re driven by what members are purchasing.

Could graphic design be offered as a service on your database, for potential tendering?

Traditionally we’ve concentrated on products, but we’re working on service category guides that could include graphic design services. The short answer is not yet, but we are working on it.

Do green products cost more?

Green products can be more expensive from their sticker price, but the true cost of ownership from a holistic sense is less. As a general rule of thumb, it will save you money in the long term.

Should sustainability budgets be factored in over a number of years, instead of just one financial year?

It should be. In the corporate space they are.

Are people more open to sustainability and the costs required to change?

Definitely. From any educative sense it’s about showing real examples in context. It’s about embedding structural change so over time you can improve on it.

Is it too slow?

We say ‘aim for the stars, but be realistic and bite off what you can chew right now’. Get some things going while you can but keep a weather eye on some big step changes where you can.

Isn’t structural change at the heart of this?

We need to stop relying on continued linear growth. We need to close the loop. Slowly that’s happening.

Who has to make this change happen?

The organisation has to commit to changing. We see the key driver of negative environmental impact is purchasing and consumption patterns – both as organisations and individuals. The first step is realising it. The second is making some changes to deal with it.

Should there be more regulations and standards imposed by government?

The more structures like 5 star building the better. But the single biggest thing would be a carbon price.

Does Eco-buy offer life-cycle assessment?

We commission RMIT Centre for Design. We can help clients directly or steer them and we do workshops and training.

Three key messages for designers?

90% of a product’s environmental impact are built in at the design stage, so you have a great opportunity to drive real change (leadership and legacy). Make sure what you design first does what it’s supposed to, then looks great, and then is green (form plus function plus green = mainstream). Every product has an environmental impact, so it’s about designing something to be as green as your brief allows, then trying to do better with your next job (continual improvement).

www.ecobuy.com.au

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.