Australian Paper

“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.

A small cardboard schoolhouse launched at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2009 has become a model for both sustainability and the work of sustainable communications consultancy Ecocreative.

The South Australian consultancy designed a package to link learning about sustainability with action in schools. The client was the state’s Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS).

What set the package apart was an inventive way of using a potential off-cut from the presentation folders. Instead of discarding it, they used the excess to create a fun-to-assemble fold-up schoolhouse. Reinforcing sustainability concepts on a number of levels, the cardboard schoolhouse helped educate children on elements of sustainably designed buildings, including orientation and the placement of eaves.

“Since the die, stock and press-time were already being used for the presentation folders, this extremely successful piece didn’t involve additional costs or use of resources” says Project Manager Jamie Ackerman-Harvie.

Questioning the consequences of potential waste resulted in an inventive solution that supported the sustainable message of the entire package.

Since it began in 1998, Ecocreative has focused on reducing waste and specifying sustainable materials (including giving preference to Australian made products). “Part of the reason clients come to us is because we specialise in sustainable communications,” says Ackerman-Harvie. “So they are usually happy when we specify materials based on their environmental and social credentials. This also supports their procurement policies where they want every aspect of their supply chain to support their values.”

“An important aspect of [our commitment to sustainability] is favouring Australian products, services and materials,” says director Matthew Wright-Simon. “In particular, using resources from local recycling streams ensures that our recycling policy lives again as new products.”

The folder package is typical of that process. It was printed locally with soy-based inks on Australian made paper (made up of a mixture of post-consumer recycled content and FSC-certified virgin fibre from sustainably-managed forests).

“There are a lot of good reasons to buy Australian made,” says Ackerman-Harvie. “One is to limit kilometres that materials have to travel, which reduces the carbon footprint. Another is to support the local economy. It works well for us to work with local suppliers because we have personal relationships with them. We see them face-to-face and are able to check what’s coming off the press—the end result is a better quality and more sustainable product.”

What do the Onyx range of specialty papers and Western Australian developer The Match Group have in common? Both have a strong commitment to delivering premium results while achieving highly sustainable outcomes. For some time now Onyx has been the stock of choice on Match Group’s print materials, thanks to the creative matchmaking of Candice Murison at Block Branding.

“We have selected Onyx on multiple occasions because it reflects our client’s desire to achieve premium printing standards and positive environmental outcomes,” says Murison. As a stock that is both one 100% recycled and 100% Australian, Murison feels the benefits to Australian communities and the environment speak clearly of the client’s values. Furthermore, being endorsed as carbon neutral by the Department of Climate Change shows the measurable positive effect of the client’s sustainability reporting.

While Onyx stands out as a range with incredibly high environmental standards, Murison makes no sacrifice on quality. “We have now printed over 10 of The Match Group’s development brochures with Onyx and couldn’t be more satisfied with the outcome; it consistently retains its premium quality and print performance with each job and never lets us down.”

Identifying a need can inspire invention. For Bluebag, a family-run catering company with city retail outlets, finding a sustainable alternative to the endless disposable coffee cups drove the development of the KeepCup.

With 100 million disposable cups sold each year in Australia alone, the KeepCup’s market potential was clear. But environmental benefits were also obvious: 17,000 trees could be saved and landfill could be spared 5,500 tonnes of disposable cups.

Bluebag commissioned industrial designers Cobalt Niche to develop the barista-standard cup and engaged Southwest Design to assist with the KeepCup’s naming, brand identity and website, which explains its easy operation.

Made from polypropylene #5, the KeepCup’s estimated lifespan is four years. Each KeepCup comes with an insulated silicon band available in various colours, which not only helps the user avoid hand burns, but also identifies their order – preventing mix-ups at the coffee machine.

With over 100,000 sold in its first six months and burgeoning international markets, the KeepCup has also been recognised in this year’s Victorian Premier’s Design Awards.

As an industry largely reliant upon fossil fuels, car manufacturers are keenly aware of the issues of climate change and sustainability. In 1997 Toyota was the first to reach the market with a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, the Prius. The company has indicated that by 2020 every Toyota model will have a hybrid option. But its environmental credentials extend beyond hybrid cars. As its Environmental Policy Manager, Jon Ward, explains, Toyota has in place sustainability programs that are part of its kaizen philosophy of continual improvement.

How has sustainability influenced design at Toyota?

Environmental sustainability is a significant driver for design innovation in the car industry. To meet this requirement, Toyota developed ECOVAS – the Eco Vehicle Assessment Scheme. It’s essentially a part-by-part assessment of vehicles each time new generation models are released. Over that model’s cycle the vehicle is continually reviewed to consider its overall sustainability, including recyclability.

How much of the vehicle is recycled at the end point?

Toyota’s aim is to achieve a 95% recycling rate for its vehicles, but this depends both on vehicle design and local industry recovery capability. For the Prius, batteries are a significant part of the footprint and those batteries achieve a 96% recycling rate.

What other sustainable initiatives have you explored?

In vehicles manufactured in Melbourne, the engine blocks are made from recycled aluminium. We receive metal in a molten state, which means we don’t have to expend energy melting it again. Toyota is also experimenting with new design materials, such as bio-fibres, instead of carbon-based fibres. For example, the floormats in Prius are made from cornstarch polymers.

Does Toyota have a program of corporate social responsibility?

We have a five-year environment plan that falls under Toyota’s ‘Earth Charter’ and a range of programs under our Toyota ‘Community Spirit’ program. We report our performance and the outcomes from these two program areas in our annual sustainability report, available from our website.

Have you set guidelines and targets for your suppliers and dealers?

All parts suppliers have to certify to the ISO14001 environmental management standard. We’ve just launched the TED (Toyota Environmental Dealership) program to encourage our dealers to measure their current performance and improve against those benchmarks over time.

Has Toyota been independently audited?

Yes we use the Global Reporting Initiative Indicators to guide our reports and we independently verify our sustainability reports and the performance of our environmental management systems.

What are the key sustainability metrics used by Toyota?

The GRI drives our reporting which covers social, environmental and financial indicators. We also measure the carbon intensity of our operations, including buildings, manufacturing, supply chain, dealers and logistics. In Australia we’ve reduced CO2 emissions by 27% per vehicle since 2005. We’ve reduced water use 40% since 1999–2000.

How can suppliers align their sustainability credentials with Toyota?

We have a green purchasing policy that sets out requirements for our suppliers. Our tenders ask for evidence of environmental initiatives, and we’re always looking to lever those relationships into greener ones.

Is there awareness among businesses to take on a sustainable approach?

Yes the business sector sees the green economy as an emerging reality, largely driven by the community’s environmental consciousness. There’s a shift from companies providing green products in their range to mainstreaming greener options across the range.

Who is the average Prius buyer?

Prius hybrids have always done well in fleets. Most companies and government departments have seen their fleet as a place to express sustainability. And, increasingly, private buyers wishing to save on fuel costs and make a difference to the environment.

What benefits have you gained from your focus on sustainability?

Environmental sustainability is a low-cost and customer-focused approach to doing business.

What can the design community do?

Designers play a key role in determining the product outcome. The design community is very aware of sustainability. Their challenge, like ours, is to mainstream this so that in 20 years, sustainable is simply how things are made.

Soon after the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, Greenpeace UK encouraged designers to submit posters rebranding BP’s flower logo. From around the world, over one thousand submitted designs ranged in tone from darkly humorous to bitter, venomous, frustrated and outraged.

While drawing attention to the Gulf catastrophe, Greenpeace also aimed to discredit BP’s green credentials and its claim that it is ‘beyond petroleum’. Its green logo, Greenpeace contends, is another example of corporate greenwashing.

Adding its own fuel to already inflamed popular opinion, Greenpeace’s campaign nevertheless confirmed one thing: bad reputations escalate fast in the information age.

But alongside all the spin and bad news, there’s a wealth of useful information available to those genuinely wanting to practice sustainability. In areas such as the sharing of ideas, the sourcing of information on sustainable design and improved accountability, there are many independent organisations set up to help businesses.

The intention of sustainable design is, of course, to avoid any detrimental impact on the environment. But there are also social and economic considerations. Together, these concerns comprise the triple-bottom-line approach: a holistic philosophy also known as ‘The Three Ps’ – plant, people and profit.

Achieving sustainable design relies upon sourcing sustainable materials. Like any system, a business supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Many corporate websites declare the sustainable credentials of their companies; often it’s in their annual reports. For those wary of exaggerated claims, the easiest way to verify accuracy is to see if that company has been independently audited. Companies who have been audited will proudly wear that appellation. After all, reputations are at stake and misleading claims can come back to hurt.

But as respected website Ecospecifier warns, “all labels are not recreated equal”. So, as a consumer, it helps to research the standards by which companies judge their own products. Always look for products, companies and certifications/labels that have been independently audited. The Australian Government’s ‘Greenhouse Friendly’

logo administered by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (and scrutinised by the ACCC) is a goldstar example of an independently audited certification/label, as is the FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) logo that certifies that fibre inputs only come from well managed forests.

For those who commission work or buy products from Third World countries, the ‘Fair Trade’ logo ensures workers are fairly paid and maintain a decent standard of living. Fair Trade has a social consequence and an economic benefit to workers and their communities: by paying a fair price for goods and services you ensure money is available for infrastructure, like schools and healthcare, in the product’s country of origin.

‘Good Environmental Choice’ is another respected label. This Australian program indicates the environmental performance of a consumer product from a whole-of-product-life perspective. The internationally recognised program awards its label to “products that meet voluntary environmental performance standards, which have been created and assessed in conformance to international environmental labelling standards”.

ISO (International Standards Organisation) certification is designed to “make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and fairer. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers and users of products and services in general – as well as making their lives simpler”.

Smaller companies, however, don’t always have the money required for auditing. But it costs nothing to ask questions. For designers, it’s often a matter of asking printers or merchants for advice. If your printer can’t help, find another. There’s a lot of information out there already and organisations like AGDA, Designers Accord and AIGA provide basic information for anyone wanting to keep an independent eye on the claims made by others.

The benefits of sustainable design and sourcing are not just about future proofing the planet, they’re also about the survival of businesses.