Fast Talking - Faster Thinking

Zabel

Categories: NRDC

Aug 20, 2008 10:34 am 5 Comments

It’s quite possible that the only part of Dr. Allen Hershkowitz that moves faster than his lips is his mind. Dr. Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, had the generosity to meet with us yesterday at the NRDC’s headquarters in New York City. In its usual, exquisite manner, fate sent us exactly what we needed – a fast talker who allowed us to rest our lungs for a second and instead engage our minds.
In their most recent partnership – the Dr. Hershkowitz and the NRDC have started to work with Major League Baseball – the owners, players and operations staffs of the various teams – to encourage them to adopt more sustainable practices. At first I considered the choice of partners to be curious, but very quickly (how else?) I was brought around to understand the wisdom in approaching environmental problems by working with entertainment industries.
The thought is that if we can’t enact laws that make industries produce their products in a more environmentally responsible ways, we instead use the market to our advantage. In particular, by working with publicity sensitive institutions, such as MLB, environmental advocacy groups can change the market demand such that producers find in their best interest to use post-consumer recycled fiber rather than fiber from virgin forests when making programs or napkins for ball games. And given how many people go to a ball game, that not only reduces waste, energy inputs, and environmental degradation, it’s also a great way to reach millions of Americans. As Dr. Hershkowitz said, America – teachers, workers, CEO’s, oil company execs, students, kids, and parents – meets at the ballpark.
The other point that was driven home to me this afternoon was that in communicating the benefits of environmentally responsible products to consumers it is essential to connect consumption to its upstream effects in a visceral, emotional sense. A couple of marketers from ???? Agency saw us on the street and came down to talk to us about Marcal products. When talking to them about why we buy certain products and how we make the decision, we addressed the challenge of how to connect the act of buying toilet paper made from post-consumer recycled fiber to the preservation of tracts of virgin forestland.
We tried a couple of tag lines (“Rougher on the cheek, smoother on the conscience”) to little avail. We’ll leave that challenge to the marketers. But, nevertheless, it is an important one, how do you make the connections at the point of purchase and communicate that seemingly inconsequential decisions do have real and definite consequences? How do we teach people to be ecological thinkers?
 

Tweet This Post

sunrise
September 2, 2008 - 3:13am

i'm from china . how can i jion it !

raynbowflower
September 10, 2008 - 11:02am

Cincinnati, ohio here how can i help?

Beth Ann
September 12, 2008 - 11:37am

Greetings from Palm Springs, Ca.! We are learning about how to recycle, and try some green things we can do at home. We ran across your site! How great that you are speading the word! I wish I could experience that with you! If you ever come our way- drop us a line! We'd love it if you came to our middle school! If you ever have the time, please email us (at my eamil) and let us know how you are doing and what is going on in your travels! Keep on Big Green Bus! Mrs. Thornhill Palm Springs, Ca.

alex brower
September 12, 2008 - 5:02pm

i am from minnesota!!! how can i help?? i am applying to dartmouth next year!! :)

Janet Goldman
March 25, 2009 - 1:05pm

I am happy to be on the big green bus

Flag as spam/inappropriate