Marketing Sustainability

How do you market your organization's sustainability efforts? More importantly, is it worth it? Right now, it seems that sustainability is the "hip and trendy" thing to do. Companies are jumping on the "green wagon" and riding environmentalism into the sunset. They've got a vehicle made out of renewable resources, organic food for the journey and recycle/green logos stamped all over the place. How do we authentically show that we're being green, not just to be green, but because that's who we are?

At Pacific, we choose to print as many of our publications on recycled paper as much as possible. We work closely with printers to choose the right balance of green and green -- sustainable yet affordable. We're looking into options of how to communicate more electronically, to reduce the consumption of paper and ink. And we're also investigating materials for other products, such as banners and promotional items, that have the lowest impact on the environment.

But how do we show this to the larger community? Do we stamp the recycle logo and our commitment to sustainability statement on every piece? We want to show that we truly are thinking about sustainability, but we don't want to hit you over the head with it. We've been doing it for years. Its been a silent story here. And I still wonder, what's the best way to share it...