green broadcasting feature

radically change the way we do business and run our lives. Many companies are making changes but the credit crunch, shortage of staff and daily business demands allow little time to sit back and think differently. If you had a business plan that projected savings throughout the company would you ignore it? If you had a tool for lifecycle assessment that enabled you to track the impact of two products and processes and allowing you to choose the most cost efficient would you bother? Recycling helps, carbon offsetting simply addresses the polluters conscience but there is much more that can be done. So what significant changes can we make to better our environment without damaging the bottom line and actually make savings? Firstly, we must embrace the USP of this industry and embrace our creativity and our ability to influence. No other industry has the same enormous power to make societal changes on a global scale. It can change the ambitions of young people to become footballers and popstars rather than doctors and architects. It can change our eating habits, make us dance more or react far quicker to crises such as the recent song for Haiti - touted to be the biggest seller of the last decade. Similarly, it can deliver negative news, making people think that life is going downhill. It can make us believe that every ‘hoodie’ is a delinquent and has shown that as a nation we are almost as interested in voting for an X-factor star as our national politicians. Broadcasting has focussed on the drama about the environment rather than offering practical solutions for everyone. Getting practical means much more than sorting rubbish or using light bulbs we can barely read by. We need to share resources more, something that Soho Inc is starting to embrace. Manufacturers need to look at where they source materials, their product and people air miles and choice of packaging. Some production companies rent equipment on-site while others pay huge excess baggage to take their own. Adding weight to any vehicle increases the amount of fuel needed to carry the extra weight and therefore increases the emissions.

Programming has huge potential to influence audiences and start promoting positive environmental action together with community involvement. The Children in Need documentary produced by Gary

Barlow is an example where the effect of donations was seen as the mosquito nets were distributed. New programme ideas that demonstrate energy efficiency by changing habits rather than paying for new devices can show consumers immediate cash returns. Travel, cooking and clothes shows could include environmental information. The BBC ‘Mastercrafts’ show, highlighting traditional crafts that built our nation, is more than a look back in history, it is an opportunity to create local jobs and avoid losing skills that help communities globally.

How do broadcast businesses ensure continued growth and competitiveness but manage trade exhibitions differently? Firstly, by re- evaluating the benefit of shows, knowing markets are always changing. By selecting stand materials that use renewable products and can be re-used in a different configuration. Choosing only metals that have a genuine ‘new’ after-show application, using waste products that otherwise would have been scrapped - such as Autodesk with its carpet cardboard cylinders. Considerable carbon savings could be made in transportation alone by avoiding shipping products that don’t work in a standalone configuration when a picture, video or CGI virtual tour will suffice.

Design for the environment relates to how we manage our working space, how products are made and how we use them. Often simply asking the question ‘why does that part of the circuitry have to be in that particular place?’ is enough to spark designers to make small configuration changes yet substantial cost savings. At Hewlett-Packard, its Touchsmart PC design teams reduced energy by 45%, packaged the product in 100% recycled materials, reduced their plastic and foam packaging and still created a ‘cool’ product.

News, sports and events require transport whether it be kit or people. Corporate vehicle fleets often make up a high percentage of a company’s total emissions. The use of biofuels or the Modec Zero Emissions Vehicle - although still in their infancy - can potentially reduce carbon emissions substantially for this industry. To compete successfully in a low carbon economy and address sustainability companies need motivation and information: a new grandchild in the family, seeing the beach disappear in the Maldives or the need to reduce costs. Whatever

Autodesk’s innovative ‘recycled’

exhibition stand at IBC2009. Photo courtesy of Autodesk.

Business must act sustainably now to stay in business [and] avoid long term irreversible damage.

the motivation, most of us are driven by excitement for new opportunities. It’s not the planet we need to save because Mother Nature will always adapt and the planet will survive. Sustainability is needed for business survival in the market and the protection of human, animal and resource capital. Business must encourage employee involvement to share the responsibility. Society has become very individualist and egoistical and community structures are the only way forward because they make people feel better. For investments and financing, choosing sustainable options will also help the environment but with a spin-off, as employees and customers are increasingly loyal towards companies that demonstrate good business ethics.

Corporate vehicle fleets often make up a high

percentage of a company’s total emissions. The use of biofuels or the Modec Zero

Emissions Vehicle - although still in their infancy - can potentially reduce carbon emissions substantially for this industry.

The cost of fixing environmental damage in the future will be far greater than today. Technology takes time to develop and perfect and we simply don’t have time for totally new technology to mitigate environmental problems. Business must act sustainably now to stay in business, avoid long term irreversible damage and not unwittingly hurt mankind through greed, laziness or ignorance.

[1] Gro Harlem Brundtland: Our Common Future, 1987.

[2] Gilbert R, Stevenson D, Girardet H, Stern R: Making Cities Work - The Role of Local Authorities in the Urban Environment, 1997. [3] Tim Kasser: The High Price of Materialism, 2002.

[4] www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/ library/data/112196.aspx.

www.ibeweb.com l march/april 2010 l ibe l 11 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48