Avon Gorge in Bristol without
the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Trimedia created a series of
pictures of landscapes with iconic
buildings or structures removed to
support a story about construction
careers in the regions
photo opportunity, all carry with them their
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Media stunts and photo calls
own potential to impact on the environment.
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Travel impacts including
It is crucial that organisations assess these personnel/deliveries/events
potential impacts during the planning stage of and food or product waste
any communications campaign too.
Trimedia describes this approach as assess- Businesses approaching this
ing the Return on Environmental Investment for the first time will find that
(RoEI). Completely carbon-free communica- many of the major carbon offset providers can firm wanted to raise interest on the beaches
tion is an impossibility. And sometimes rela- advise on this type of scoring mechanism. This during the summer and grab people’s attention
tively sizeable environmental impacts are nec- is also undoubtedly an area that many envi- but without using excessive amounts of raw
essary to deliver high-profile campaigns that ronmental consultants are already being asked material or generating waste.
bring about wider behaviour change. about and providing advice on too. The solution was to use the material that
But the key is to assess the likely impacts at Trimedia has produced a guide for its staff was already on site in abundance – the sand.
the outset of any campaign and ensure those and clients on planning carbon- Using outline moulds that could be folded
that cannot be reduced are justifi- efficient PR campaigns. This down and transported it created giant foot-
able in terms of project includes ideas and techniques prints at beaches around the English coastline
outcomes. The key stages which could help reduce the to get people talking about the importance of
of sustainable campaign environmental impact of com- reducing their carbon footprint.
planning are: munication activities. These are just a couple of examples of how
■
Does the ROEI stack up? For example, setting up a creative thinking can help to lower the impact
Is it logical? photo stunt can often involve of communications activity. But there are
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What steps can you take sourcing a range of props as many more opportunities out there to design
to reduce the impacts of well as travel for the people campaigns that stand out for all the right rea-
individual activities? involved. sons. Trimedia is also committed to walking
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How can the environmental For one of our clients, the walk by developing its own internal envi-
impacts be measured and ConstructionSkills, ronmental management system using the
reported to ensure transparen- Trimedia created a series of IEMA Acorn Scheme framework.
cy? photos, using Photoshop
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Is carbon offsetting an option to remove iconic buildings Trimedia will be taking part in a panel debate
for any unavoidable impacts? or structures from local land- about effective stakeholder engagement as part
scapes. This helped to support a news story of this year’s Sustainable Business – The Event
Trimedia has a series of campaign impact tools about the importance of construction careers conference programme, being held at
which its staff can use to help clients assess in the regions. Sustainabilitylive! from 19 to 21 May at
how a plan of activity rates in the following Another option is to work with materials the NEC in Birmingham.
areas: that are already on location. In 2007, Trimedia Kate Sturley is a senior consultant with
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Event-related energy and resource use worked with Defra to support its Act On Trimedia UK.
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Production of campaign materials CO
2
public engagement campaign. The PR w www.trimediauk.com/csr
Sustainable Business 27❘ May 2009
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