Is the Road to Hell Paved with Green-Intentions?

October 15, 2008 · Filed Under Business, Change, Culture 

Lately, we are seeing green-this and eco-that everywhere. I would applaud this momentum the green initiatives are picking up, outside of the fact many companies are using it as their me-too-marketing-in-a-box.

Our earth, Our tomorrow cup I know I sound like a cynic, but come one folks…

Do companies sleep better at night knowing that they are doing their small part to save the environment, while making a little extra green-in-their-pockets is simply a bi-product?

Does anyone think it ironic that a local (print) paper had a headline reading,

Plants going extinct at an alarming rate!

So the paper-pulp you printed that on came from … ?

Here’s a hint – it’s tall and it is green.

The List Goes On.

What about a post I wrote a while back on an EDM company, Laserfiche®, declaring they had helped 25,000 organizations save over 17 million trees – get this – by digitizing company documents.

So, the logic goes, “We scan a bunch of paper and save trees.” Wow – how about preventing these documents from being produced in the first place?

I know, that comes next, right?

I do really wonder if that would help, but that question is above my pay grade to answer.

… And Today,

off all things, I wanted a glass of water. We use hand-me-down cups people bring in for coffee, tea, etc. I grab one (pictured above), with the phrase,

Our earth, Our tomorrow

On the reverse side is the logo of a company we do business with, and I instantly come to the conclusion this is a little swag handed out for PR, no doubt. It is a fairly cheap, plastic eco_cup_bottomcup – but very functional. It seems a little funny to create a green-friendly piece of swag out of plastic, but I think nothing else of it.

I go about my day, drinking my water. As the day wears on, and I continue to stare at the cup. I begin to wonder, is that cup recycled or recyclable?

I flip it over, and what do I see? Well, nothing… A stamp indicating place of manufacture, but sadly enough – this cup is not made of recycled goods – NOR is it even able to be recycled…

This comes from an organization with tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue globally. I wonder how many they handed out as gifts or prizes? Good intentions I’m sure, but as they say, “The road to hell is paved with ‘em.”

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

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    Comments

    Viewing 5 Comments

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      LOL!

      Yup! Paved Green. And I am driving the bus!

      Interesting - now, having recently attended a Green Summit with HP, I have a new fondness for things Green.

      And in typical fashion, HP really does not "toot its own horn" all that well.

      The company is very green and has been for a very long time - and get this - it was done to be a more responsible Global Citizen BEFORE it was considered "chic".
      • ^
      • v
      I've heard a good bit about the company's green stance. Outside of their laser cartridges, I've heard very good things ;-)
      • ^
      • v
      The context (of the Laserfiche article) doesn't make it clear, but usually when I've seen similar claims made in the past it's based on typical office usage. In many offices, the photocopier is a very busy appliance - it's very hard to limit yourself to a single physical copy of a document if you have to distribute it internally or share it with another organization. Studies have shown that over a typical document's useful life, a surprising number of copies are produced [citation needed]. Even if you have to consume paper documents, you can stop creating and reproducing them.
      You are correct that it would be even better if the documents never existed in paper form, and that the linked article is confusing about what trees are saved, but I don't think there's much dispute over the paper savings of an EDM system.

      (disclaimer: I'm an engineer for Laserfiche)
      • ^
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      I forgot to say that I'm not posting this in any official capacity, and I don't speak for the company.
      • ^
      • v
      Brian, I can certainly appreciate you stopping by. I love to hear from someone "in the trenches"... and I understand you are not speaking on behalf of the Laserfiche.

      To be fair, I think Laserfiche actually has a very solid offering. I haven't looked at the offerings in a few years, but it definitely held water in my opinion.

      My argument was more geared towards companies that attempt to leverage this "green" trend by using marketing tactics that don't really hold water... You know the one's like 4 out of 5 doctors recommend this - and the company only interviewed 5 doctors?

      I am quite sure their are great intentions here, and everyone is looking for a way to positively impact our environment while not negatively impacting their bottom line. However, in my industry, much of the fanfare of EDM revolves around what many will say in whispers - that EDM/DMS solutions will help you ratchet up output volume (which you already have under a service plan, right?).

      This isn't particular to EDM solutions - it is endemic to the information availability explosion and disposable economic outlook everyone has. Information creation and reproduction is at record levels and continues to rise; This is combined with an attitude that it can be captured and reproduced with very simple effort.

      My point to all this is:

      1) The assertion that "scanning" or "reclaiming" realized pages is not helping the environment in any shape form or fashion.

      2) It is not the responsibility of the EDM provider to govern the usage of output. The EDM provider simply offers the infrastructure to do with as the client pleases. A good analogy is that of our road system: It provides us with a medium to move from one place to another at will. Outside of maintaining the roads themselves (read: patches and upgrades), it is not the responsibility of the installing agency to enforce usage. That is a different agency... that of local and state law enforcement.

      3) I would tend to agree that EDM solutions (to include capture and electronic reproduction) can indeed save paper - if the entire process is kept electronic. We utilize this internally very often, but I also am guilty of printing a document in order to be able to "spread out" as well.

      Brian - I do thank you for stopping by. Your last sentence sums it all up. I do not think, in general, EDM solutions are at fault - and do think saving paper can be an achievable metric. However, more than not - I see it positioned as a cost savings for labor. Again, my concern was how the article was positioned.
     

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