GreenGraffitti : Greening Up the Dirty Business of Advertising
Advertising. It’s everywhere. It’s wasteful. It encourages overconsumption. It’s a menace to society. It sure makes a convenient scapegoat for many of society’s ills, doesn’t it? Well what if I were to tell you that there is now an eco friendly mode of advertising out there, that leaves the environment cleaner than before it was there?
Yes. It exists. GreenGraffitti, a service of Netherlands based graphic design/marketing firm Hemshaven, creates ads using three ingredients: Dirty, high foot traffic urban sidewalks, a stencil, and a high pressure water sprayer. Apply stencil to sidewalk, spray water, remove stencil, and you have a visually compelling, totally non polluting, long lasting (up to 6 months they claim) ad.
GreenGrafitti say it’s, “completely carbon neutral and contributes in a unique way to a healthier environment.” But the question comes to my mind, yes they’re not using paper, ink, PVC, etc, but what about all that water that’s used? They compensate for that using carbon offsets from Groenbalans The GreenGraffitti site says they offset, “From our water use to the kilometers we travel.” Really? Carbon offsets covering water usage I’ve not heard of.
However, moving beyond this one point, GreenGraffitti uses green web host Thinkhost, donate 5% of their profits to local organizations, and encourage clients to have them come back a few weeks later to completely clean the sidewalk where their ads have been placed.
Due to the simplicity of execution and ubiquity of the equipment needed, GreenGraffitti is available throughout Europe and even in the US. What message do you want to spread?
Readers: What are some other innovative forms of green advertising you’ve seen out there?
Additional Reading:
How to Advertise Your Green Business : Ecopreneurist
PR Tips for Green Entrepreneurs: Ecopreneurist
Social Networking and Online Marketing for the Ecopreneur : Ecopreneurist
I want to do things like this around the community.
Hi Paul,
This is great!
I got it refered from one of my contacts Anders: http://inse.collectivex.com/network/show_profile/147
Another forms of green advertising….definitly carbon proof:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yry2L6s4h3c
The trees stayed there for a while and it’s done in multiple cities, got a lot of press coverage.
http://www.phlaw.nl/nl/portfolio/guerilla_illegaal_planten_van_bomen.html
About your overconsumption point:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=LWfajfY3Q4g
Best regards,
Peter
Hej Peter, thanks for those cool(ing) videos! Everybody, check out that first link, it’s to a site called International Network of Social Entrepreneurs. The tagline says it all: “Fostering Connections to Pursue Business Endeavors with Social and Environmental Benefits”
Our water consumption is an area where we are looking to improve. We have been approached by a Dutch organization who is putting together a water compensation program. Our goal would be to provide one liter of clean drinking water for each liter we are using to clean our message out of the dirt.
We had hoped to use gray water or water out of the numerous canals in the Netherlands but we have been advised against this due to health concerns. We take this issue very seriously and we would welcome any ideas or suggestions that will help us improve in this very important area.
GreenGraffiti is a more responsible communication channel and we will only get better with age.
Jim Bowes
Partner
GreenGraffiti
Hey Jim, thanks for checking in! I think what you’re doing is an all around great thing, and if the water usage could be addressed, even better. Readers, do you have any ideas?
In terms of conservation, not sure if it would work, but might using steam and/or a floor-type machine instead of pressurized water work? In any event, love the idea and am thrilled to hear that water conservation is on their minds!
Jennifer that’s an interesting idea. Green Graffitti, are you still listening? Or perhaps someone else out there…
Thanks. I actually have been thinking about this a lot since I read the post. I’m still thinking about it…
Hmm, well if it leads to something, keep me in the loop, yes? And I’ll write about it
Paul,
Thanks for the words of encouragement!
Jennifer, I would be very interested to talk to you about your ideas. We are always looking to improve our processes. What do you mean by a floor-type machine. You’ve got me interested.
A big thanks to all who have commented and we hope you keep your eyes on us.
Greetings from Amsterdam,
Jim Bowes
Partner
GreenGraffiti