What is the role of Manufacturing in Sustainable Marketing?

While all stages of marketing need to be examined to achieve a sustainable outcome, looking more closely at manufacturing as a strategy that interconnects product and process design, end to end, is an essential chain in the larger sustainable marketing process. Additionally, as the manufacturing component of a marketing strategy is one if not the ‘dirtiest’ part of the process it is essential that the role of manufacturing in the future as sustainable marketing becomes the norm rather than the exception, be itself sustainable. Steve Skerlos, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and principal investigator for that university's Environmental and Sustainable Technology Lab, has said that “The cost savings represented by new green technologies make a compelling business case.”[1] To illustrate his point, he said “the United States consumed two billion gallons of metalworking fluids in 2000. These emulsions of oil, water and stabilizing agents are essential in machining the moving metal parts in automobiles, motors, appliances, compressors, pumps, generators and more. They account for 12 percent of metals manufacturing costs. While the biggest cost is the purchase of these metalworking fluids, disposal costs are also significant.”[2] Through his work at a test plant, Skerlos and his associates were able to develop environmentally friendly vegetable oil substitutes for petroleum-based oils, as well as microfiltration techniques to extend the useful life of these fluids virtually indefinitely. That can save a lot of money, as a large plant can typically spend $2 million a year replacing these fluids. When asked whether sustainable manufacturing solutions will "self-assemble" -- that is, occur through natural market forces. He said: "The business case for sustainability is simple: Add value!"[3] Adding that "green" business efforts, if done right, reduce costs, increase consumers' willingness to pay more, increase market share and ultimately facilitate the development of new products and markets.

Photo by Daniel Suchenski

[1] http://www.stanford.edu/group/AIM/AIMPrograms/EventsArchives/wkshparchives/GreenManuf.html
[2]http://www.stanford.edu /group/AIM/AIMPrograms/EventsArchives/wkshparchives/GreenManuf.html
[3]http://www.stanford.edu%20/group/AIM/AIMPrograms/EventsArchives/wkshparchives/GreenManuf.html

R² Strategies and the role of Sustainable Marketing.

While both pollution prevention and resource recovery both can be considered proactive marketing strategies, they differ greatly in approach. In keeping with a reduction and elimination of inefficiencies that also promote a benefit in service and/or profit, resource recovery is used where pollution prevention could not. This reuse of waste, known as resource recovery is “the collecting and separating of certain waste materials for processing into new forms, which will ultimately be marketed as raw materials for new products.”[1] Resource recovery is not only environmentally important, but it is also cost effective and therefore more efficient. It reduces the amount of waste for disposal, saves space in landfills, is more energy-efficient than burning materials, and conserves natural resources. Fuller describes resource recovery as “the process through which products, materials and energy values are routinely recaptured from waste (residual) streams and returned to economic use (redeployed) in future production-consumption cycles.”[2] Furthermore resource recovery is a function that moderates the negative impacts of waste streams that have been first downsized through pollution prevention efforts. Perhaps the most common example of resource recovery is the recycling of aluminum can. Not only does not recycling represent a foregone opportunity from an economical standpoint but there are environmental and social considerations. The production of aluminum from raw material is a dirty process. There are environmental impacts associated with each stage of aluminum production, from extraction to processing. The major environmental impact of refining and smelting is greenhouse gas emissions. These gases result from both the electrical consumption of smelters and the byproducts of processing. The greenhouse gases resulting from primary production include perfluorocarbons (PFC), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), fluoride, sulfur dioxide (S02), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Of these gases, PFC's resulting from the smelting process are the most potent. Primary aluminum production is the leading source of perfluorocarbon emissions in the United States.[3] Beyond the simple example of the aluminum can there are large corporations and state initiatives that deal exclusively with resource recovery across the country.[4]

Photo by Daniel Suchenski

[1] http://www.co.grand-traverse.mi.us/departments/resource_recovery/What_is_Resource_Recovery_.htm[2] Sustainable Marketing: Managerial-Ecological Issues p. 95[3] http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1013.html[4] www.rirrc.org www.crra.com www.nrra.net

Reclaiming Art Part 2 - A mixture of Wood & Ceramic

Reclaim is defined as "to bring into or return to a suitable condition for use" For this piece of art I took scrap wood from bins at my woodshop, fixed them up, put them together and made a tray frame. The ceramic inside was completed by a dear friend of mine who acquired an beautiful designer plate that developed a rather large air bubble during the kiln phase and, while "unsellable" was in fact in perfect condition and ideal for use as a tiled base for the inside of my reclaimed wood tray. This is actually one of my most favorite pieces as it was made in a very innovative style that involved multiple disciplines and a great deal of time and love.

P²: Proactive Marketing moves toward Sustainability

According to MarketingProfs.com proactive marketing involves marketing activities which anticipate competitive action and attempt to forestall it as a means of staying viable in an ever evolving environment.[1] From a business perspective pollution prevention, at its heart, aim to reduce inefficiencies while improving customer satisfaction and/or profits. This idea is adequately summarized by Donald Fuller who states, not only that, the approach of pollution prevention is to eliminate waste and wasting at the point of origin, but their mere presence is an “indicator of inefficiencies in conversion processes or activities.”[2] Fuller takes this a step, insisting that if pollution prevention strategies are not taken seriously as part of the holistic outlook of any marketing strategy then, not only is the outcome inefficient, it’s also not progressive. Even the most doubting skeptic of sustainable and holistic business approaches acknowledge the importance of confronting and eliminating inefficiencies. Pollution creation is the ultimate inefficiency, especially when alternatives are readily available. For those that still believe the old slogan that dilution is the solution to pollution, bear this in mind, an article published by a Chinese scholar in the only English language newspaper in China, China daily, reported that the cost of China’s environmental degradation as a byproduct of its economic boon could be equal or higher than GDP.[3]

A counter example that illustrates pollution prevention as a progressive marketing strategy is the ‘green rate’ offered by two Washington DC hotels. These hotels offered discounted rates on rooms for patrons willing to use the same sheets and towels over a three day period.[4] This mutually beneficial deal allows for one third of the electricity, water and detergent to be used. To see an even more progressive example in DC check out Topaz hotel in DuPont Circle.[5]

*Both Photos taken by me in Shanghai China

Photos by Daniel Suchenski

[1] http://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/library, http://en.mimi.hu/marketingweb/proactive_marketing_strategies.html

[2] Sustainable Marketing: Managerial-Ecological Issues p. 90 [3] http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-06/06/content_609350.htm [4] Sustainable Marketing: Managerial-Ecological Issues p. 91 [5] http://www.topazhotel.com/html/green-hotel-dc.asp

Sustainable Marketing & 4 informal laws.

‘Traditional’ marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.[1] As it relates to business, Donald Fuller in Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues, states that marketing is not only an inseparable concept but, traditional marketing success has been defined as satisfying costumers and concurrent profits for the firm. This is often called the “win-win” strategy.[2] Traditional marketing often constitutes creative industries which include advertising, distribution and selling. It is concerned, not only with current marketing strategies, proper marketing also anticipates a customers' future needs and wants, which are often discovered through market research. Additionally, marketing is influenced by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Market research underpins these activities.[3]
You may be wondering, ‘What is the difference between sustainable marketing and more traditional marketing? It isn't just about selling green products to the “LOHAS” market segment, which encompasses 63 million people. Or the $540 billion Cultural Creative’s market. “Sustainable Marketing gives traditional marketing methods and discipline to entrepreneurs in the green marketing sector, teaches corporate social responsibility and green marketing to existing well-established companies, and also going beyond branding, evolving marketing, understanding our customers better, their values, emotions, and buying behavior, and their hopes for making a sustainable, restorative relationship with their families, their communities, and the earth.”[4] Fuller helps simplify this concept by stating that sustainable marketing utilizes all of the traditional marketing strategies while attempting to reinvent product systems to achieve “zero-waste, zero discharge outcomes while providing the same or improved benefits to costumers is a logical solution to pollution.”[5]

[1] Marketing definition approved in October 2007 by the American Marketing Association
[2] Fuller, Donald A. Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues. SAGE Publications. 1999. Page 3.[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing[4] http://www.sustainablemarketing.com/[5] Fuller, Donald A. Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues. SAGE Publications. 1999. Page 3.

Defining Sustainable Marketing.

‘Traditional’ marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.[1] As it relates to business, Donald Fuller in Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues, states that marketing is not only an inseparable concept but, traditional marketing success has been defined as satisfying costumers and concurrent profits for the firm. This is often called the “win-win” strategy.[2] Traditional marketing often constitutes creative industries which include advertising, distribution and selling. It is concerned, not only with current marketing strategies, proper marketing also anticipates a customers' future needs and wants, which are often discovered through market research. Additionally, marketing is influenced by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Market research underpins these activities.[3]
You may be wondering, ‘What is the difference between sustainable marketing and more traditional marketing? It isn't just about selling green products to the “LOHAS” market segment, which encompasses 63 million people. Or the $540 billion Cultural Creative’s market. “Sustainable Marketing gives traditional marketing methods and discipline to entrepreneurs in the green marketing sector, teaches corporate social responsibility and green marketing to existing well-established companies, and also going beyond branding, evolving marketing, understanding our customers better, their values, emotions, and buying behavior, and their hopes for making a sustainable, restorative relationship with their families, their communities, and the earth.”[4] Fuller helps simplify this concept by stating that sustainable marketing utilizes all of the traditional marketing strategies while attempting to reinvent product systems to achieve “zero-waste, zero discharge outcomes while providing the same or improved benefits to costumers is a logical solution to pollution.”[5]

[1] Marketing definition approved in October 2007 by the American Marketing Association
[2] Fuller, Donald A. Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues. SAGE Publications. 1999. Page 3.[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing[4] http://www.sustainablemarketing.com/[5] Fuller, Donald A. Sustainable Marketing: Managerial - Ecological Issues. SAGE Publications. 1999. Page 3.

Reclaiming Art - Woodworking in Modern America

The more I travel back through the venues of my life the more I realize and understand more about sustainability & my own unique journey. I have been an avid, if sometimes unconventional woodworker and creator for sometime now. When I was in highschool I began using scraps, to create a sort of antique looking vintage style frame. Using scraps made sense, they are not only readily available in any woodshop but they also require a degree of creativity to make them into something interesting instead of using virgin wood pieces.

This piece was a large walnut backing with maple pieces on top and bottom, mahagony on the right side and two strips used as inlays on both the right and left sides.

I used paper clips for the twisted metal on the far right.

This is another frame with a solid walnut backing. Zebra wood an exotic hardwood imported from West Africa was attached on the upper right corner and redheart, another exotic hardwood, attached at the lower right corner. The top of the piece was shaped using various files.

This frame is held up by two protruding maple posts that come up through the walnut backing. None of the frames I made have stain or polyurethane. Tung oil would have been a powerful possibility as a natural and environmentally friendly alternative to polyurethane but was unavailable at the shop in DC. Because no stains or finishes were used it is important to note that these are the natural colors of the wood.


This frame uses purple heart triangle in the lower left. A slice of red heart. I used a drill on the right side to emulate wear. The picture is of Larry, the shop manager and one of the student’s children inside the Covenant House Washington’s woodshop.


This frame was held up with just a single piece of Baltic birch plywood. Purple heart is an exotic wood with mechanical properties of the wood are reported to lie somewhere between those of Greenheart and Oak. It is reported to have exceptional tolerance for shock loading.

This frame uses large block pieces of Zebra wood for grounding. A thin strip of purple heart runs across the bottom of the picture. Reclaimed corks from wine bottles and a post of red heart were used on either side of the frame to stabilize and prop up the drawing.

All of these frames were constructed in DC inside the Covenant House Washington woodshop. The BlogSpot is here. http://theartisans.blogspot.com/