Mailing Systems Technology - November/December 2008 - (Page 30) M A N A GE M E N T the TRUTH about green 1. Consumers are concerned about the environment and believe conservation is important. 2. While consumers value mail, they significantly overestimate its environmental impact. 3. Customers would think more highly of direct mail if companies took a more eco-friendly approach. With global warming and greenhouse gases in the news, concerns over CO2 emissions are also rising. And again, consumers have the same misperceptions on the environmental impact of mail — ranking mail as one of the top contributors while scientific data proves otherwise. One of the factors contributing to this misguided view may be the physical nature of mail. Unlike other energy consumers, such as automobiles, computers and microwaves, mail is discarded on a daily basis. When you take a shower or operate a washing machine, you can’t really put your hands on how much energy is being expended. But when you physically touch something, it has more of an impact. Another factor may be the sheer size of the mail industry. With over 100 billion pieces of direct mail sent every year, mail supports $900 billion in economic activity and over nine million jobs. While there is no doubt that Americans receive a significant amount of unsolicited mail, consumers note that they Part I: How mailers can protect the environment — and their industry By Paul Robbertz Editor’s Note: The second part in this series will focus on seven practices that are good for the environment, good for the industry and good for your business. Look for it in the November e-newsletter. If you’re not already receiving the e-newsletter, visit www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com to sign up. S ince the first Earth Day in 1970, interest in the environment and green initiatives has greatly accelerated. During this same time, the volume of mail delivered in the United States has more than doubled. When you put the two together, it’s easy to understand why 75% of Americans believe that unsolicited mail is a major environmental problem. Mail does affect our ecosystem, and the recent confirmation that human activities impact global warming and climate change has increased this awareness within public, government and business circles. Environmentalists report, for example, that over 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used each year in producing the paper used for direct mail. Researchers, however, have found a tremendous gap between consumer perception and market reality. The DM News/Pitney Bowes study captured data from 1,000 Americans through online surveys conducted in November, 2007. Findings show, for example, that consumers greatly overestimate how much of today’s municipal waste is caused by mail. While half of adults thought that advertising mail counted for 53% of the country’s municipal waste, the EPA reports that the actual figure is two percent. Other key takeaways can be summarized in three points: http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.