Domtar Paper Products

I saw this Domtar EarthChoice® ad (shown on the right) the other day on a green news website.  While I think it’s a quality product and respect the promotion, I am not sure the promotion is taking full advantage of the medium and I feel improvements could be made to increase ROI.

160x600 Green Internet Banner Ad

I’ve been in Internet marketing and advertising for some time now, so ads tend to grab my attention, but not necessarily for their color scheme or imagery.  In this case, the green does pop off the page and the font size of “green” drew my attention along with the tagline “The new transparent.”  But the top graphic is pretty stock and generic.  The main issue I have with this 160×600 is that the actual product is ambiguous.  Why is green the new transparent?  In an 8 size font I see that the product is “high quality paper with a conscience.”  Why should I have to squint to figure out you sell paper?

The destination page of the ad is also a problem – as it takes me to the homepage on the website…so I land in the middle of nowhere — still a little confused.  Please take me directly to the Domtar EarthChoice® page.  I clicked the ad because I am an environmentally conscious paper buyer (if I noticed the bottom of the ad), so take me to the page for your environmentally conscious product.

Certainly the ad is properly targeted, on a green news site with a business end executive readership.  However, I cannot imagine this ad having a great click-through rate, given the ambiguity of the message…maybe a .03%.  Just a guess – and I could very well be wrong!

While this particular online campaign could use some improvement, keep it up Domtar with a quality, environmentally friendly paper product.

Sony Ericsson C901 GreenHeart™

After much hype, Sony Ericsson introduced to the world (Mother Earth) the GreenHeart™, which has a minimum of 50% recycled plastic, comes with an E-manual to reduce paper usage by 90%, and claims smaller packaging to reduce distribution emissions.

The two flagship products, the C901 GreenHeart™ and Naite, feature various applications that promote green living, including Ecomate on the Naite, which helps users make more environmentally friendly choices in their daily lives.  Says Dick Komiyama, President, Sony Ericsson, “today we are announcing the next step in our sustainability strategy – the GreenHeart™ pioneer products - which launch with two innovative new phones and a commitment to roll out these innovations across the broader portfolio in 2010 and 2011, allowing us to build a more sustainable business.”

>> Press Release

Boxed Water of Green Rapids, Michigan

As Boxed Water is Better puts it, they “started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - we found that it shouldn’t be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So we looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful.”

Roughly 85% of the Boxed Water box is from renewable resources, including trees, that “when harvested in a responsible, managed and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource.”  Because of this, Boxed Water donates 10% of their profits to reforestation foundations.  Another 10% of profits goes to world water relief foundations.

Based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Boxed Water Is Better is carbon-filtered, purified, simple and refreshing.  Launched in March of 2009, the company is looking to expand, with 15 plus distributors in Michigan.

A recent article on the Inhabitat website note that only 14% of water bottles are recycled and America contributes 30 million plastic water bottles to landfills every day.  That is insane!  Move over milk, water is coming to town.  Not in your town yet?  Try an Eco Canteen™.

Boxed Water Is Better

Underwriters Laboratories, a 115-year old company, known for product testing, has given its first green validation since launching its subsidiary UL Environment in January this year.

The UL Approval

The purpose of UL Environment is to test products that claim to be eco-friendly and if they pass, give them the UL stamp of approval. UL’s first approval was EcoRock, a new drywall that is 80% recycled material, has low VOC emissions, is mercury free and is highly resistant to mold.

UL Environment hopes to weed out false claims and give credit to green innovation and quality eco-friendly products.

“In Britain, eco-friendly cemeteries have multiplied by 20 fold to more than 200 units in the last decade,” states a recent article, Latest Funeral Trend: The green revolution continues…even in death.

Bamboo Coffin from Greys Funeral Home

Unlike traditional Western burials, which focus on preservation of the body, eco-friendly burials concentrate on the natural decomposition of the body.  Instead of granite headstones, plants or trees mark a loved one’s grave.

In accordance with the rise in cremations, environmentally aware urns have also gained popularity.  One such company is EcoUrn.  Such urns are biodegradable, constructed from san, rock salt, or paper that dissolves into water in three years.

I’ve seen these water bottles everywhere.

I’m not 100% sure whether Eco Canteen invented and/or patented the idea, but they certainly trademarked the name, Eco Canteen™.  The point being, these fashionable water bottles are everywhere.  They are trendy & environmentally friendly - in that they are reusable.  In addition, they do not deliver plastic toxins to the body, which happens when a person reuses the same plastic bottle over and over.  Check it out.