Food packaging is not only a means of brand marketing, it is essential for the physical safety of those who consume the product. Because of these purposes, it’s often a challenge for food and beverage companies to find a compromise between environmental concern and economic need in their packaging considerations. It’s also expensive to research and develop alternatives, and with potentially little pay-off in terms of increased sales for more environmentally friendly packaging.

A recent report by a beverage industry research company states that 94% of Americans are concerned about the long-termenvironmental effects of their beverage packaging purchases. While it’s clear that most people want to buy products that don’t impact the environment negatively, the impact of packaging may not be foremost on the mind when making purchases. Given that packaging for food and beverage products is also relatively similar for products across the industry, even if a person is conscious of the packaging before making a purchase there may not be much of an environmentally better choice available between products.

Complex issues like increasing responsibility in packaging require solutions that are customized, creative, and responsible. Some brands (for example, SunChips and Propel fitness water) are finding ways specific to their own products to reduce waste in packaging materials while still maintaining product safety and convenience, while enhancing their brand. These examples are proving to other companies in the industry that better packaging is not only possible, but is becoming a necessity in terms of demonstrating responsibility and sustainability.

Companies absolutely have a role to play in changing the standard of packaging for products, yet the people whopurchase those products ultimately make the active decision to cut back on their own waste by learning about and choosing the brands that use better packaging practices. In the end, a widespread change to packaging will come down to the responsible decision-making of both people in company boardrooms and people in grocery stores.

Healthy Living Marketing helps brands to shape, communicate and share their commitments to acting responsibly. For further information on how your brand can act more responsibly and position itself well with the ever-increasing Conscious Public segment of shoppers, please call us at (301) 378-0384.

It seems that every day there is a new study, headline and advice about issues ranging from disease prevention, the optimum nutritional plan, or the correct fitness technique. While it’s not always clear which of the information to believe, what is clear is that health issues are rarely black and white; they are complex in cause, severity and solution. Therefore, responsible choices about health require trade-offs, measured decision-making, and a realization that there are multiple sides to every story.

Take, for example, obesity: we as Americans are confronted with near-daily coverage in the media. A recent CDC report states that 2.4 more million Americans became obese in the past two years alone. This shocking revelation belies the enormous health issue that obesity has become as well as the need for a sustainable solution. Yet it also begs the question of how this is possible? Is there a reasonable explanation? How have longer commute times and working hours, increasing unemployment and financial concerns, and changing lifestyle values affected obesity? By not rushing to conclusions and by recognizing that obesity is caused by very complex situational and biological factors, a more holistic, effective set of solutions is likely to be pursued.

The same is true with personal health decision-making. Approaches to personal health choices that don’t take into account the trade-offs, of either action or inaction, are less likely to be sustainable and positive in the long run. For some, the sacrifice of going to the gym every morning or eating only natural food to be healthy may be too much of a commitment for their lifestyle, preferences, or even their happiness. The fact is, there are other ways to make healthy choices, and it is up to each individual to investigate and decide what works best for them.

Individual responsibility and action is critical in creating personal solutions. While obesity reports and headlines about health do a lot to bring attention to serious issues, the causes and solutions for health concerns boil down to the individual. The more individuals can customize their decisions based on their own values, the more choices businesses, brands, NGO’s, and government will offer in recognition that a one-size-fits-all approach to health is not valid.

Aligning your brand with a strong social purpose tied to your brand values is a compelling position to leverage for your business health. Call Healthy Living Marketing at (301) 378-0384 as we are ready to help you with this process.

Providing Those Disadvantages and Persecuted With A New Home

Since 1980, when the United States Refugee Act was passed, over 3 million refugees have been resettled to the U.S. from around the world. They are Somalis, Iraqis, Colombians, Burmese, and many others. They now call places like Minneapolis, Seattle and Atlanta home. What does this say about the country that gave more than 3 million of the world’s most disadvantaged and persecuted people a new home, not because it had to, but because it wanted to? At the very least, it says that socially conscious Americans have the ability to care deeply.

Success Is Determined By The Quality Of Integration

While the U.S. resettlement is a government-funded endeavor, with a set intake quota each year, the process is followed through on a community level. When a refugee family arrives in the U.S., someone is there waiting for them at the airport. Someone is there to show them their new apartment, accompany them to doctors’ appointments, help them apply for jobs. It is individuals, families, and non-profit organizations that support refugee families and form the basis of a receptive and welcoming healthy community. This healthy community spirit, and for such a large-scale government program, has truly been the key to its success over the last 30 years. That success is shown by the fact that the United States resettles more refugees annually than all other countries combined, and of course through the many individual stories of resettled refugees in America.

More than just evidence of caring, the longstanding commitment to refugees in the United States demonstrates a variety of other values and abilities: social responsibility, coordinated and organized resources, and an investment in the future and sustainability of the country. Regardless of what health means to each American personally, these values all are essential to good health on a national level, and are all qualities that I would bet were missing in the countries that refugees fled in the first place.

With all the health concerns facing the country both on a national and personal level – obesity, unemployment, smoking, climate change (the list goes on) – we know, through the example of refugee resettlement, that Americans have the ethical values and abilities to confront the challenges, as well as a will to take action.

Healthy Living Marketing subscribes to a deep commitment to business ethics and social commitment, and urges our partners, vendors and clients to create and follow-through on their own personal commitment to acting responsibly as well. For further insight on how to create and sustain your own organizational ethical “compass”, please contact us at (301) 378-0384.

Triscuit Crackers and Home Farming

The cracker brand Triscuit is currently sponsoring a home farming initiative,presumablybecause of the new popularity of the activity, and has incorporated the effort into its packaging and product. Specially marked boxes of Triscuit include a bag of basil and dill seeds. The website provided on the box gives instructions for how to plant and grow those seeds as well as general resources for home farming, including community forums, harvesting schedules, a crop guide, and expert advice. This campaign aims to support Triscuit’s branding that the product goes “from farm to bakery to your table.”

It often doesn’t tell the full story for a brand to simply champion a cause or purpose, even if the product and cause are related. After all, the company that produces Triscuit, Kraft Foods, has received significant criticism for the manufacture and marketing of many heavily-processed foods in its portfolio. Moreover, it’s questionable how well their home farming campaign truly fits their values, given that nowhere can we find that Triscuit sources from local or small-scale farms. Still, the campaign shows that Kraft is becoming more and more aware that people want to eat healthier and that they are more concerned with the source of their food. Perhaps Triscuit’s home farming promotion will be a start in the right direction toward putting the message into practice for the brand.

Silk Soymilk – A Legacy Of Social Commitment

Meanwhile, Silk Soymilk, a brand within Dean Foods, is reinforcing its longstanding image as a healthy and environmentally friendly brand by running a new promotion called GreenCaps, for the cartons’ own green caps. The promotion highlights two causes that Silk has long championed – wind energy and Farm Aid. Customers of Silk are asked to visit a website to input their carton’s UPC and then choose between the two social causes, and by doing so are entered in a sweepstakes to win prizes including a Smart vehicle and a $25,000 gift card to make green home improvements. By highlighting these two causes, the brand both raises awareness about the importance of both wind energy and family farms, and reinforces Silk Soymilk’s commitment to environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and a natural, sustainable product.

In Silk Soymilk’s case, these messages are backed up by good practices. In order to offset its energy usage, since 2003 the company has purchased Renewable Energy Certificates from an environmental energy company that develops wind energy. Silk also uses only soybeans that are produced from socially responsible and sustainable sources, according to the brand’s website. When considering these practices, Silk’s chosen causes fit very well to both enhance and reinforce the image of the brand, and are perfectly aligned to the values of the brand and parent company.

If you would like to learn more about creative collaboration possibilities that include an enduring and distinctive social purpose for your company, please contact Healthy Living Marketing at (301) 378-0384.

The California Endowment Coachella Valley Health Initiative

A tobacco prevention summit for youth leadership is on the calendar for South Sacramento, and a community forum hosted by the Coachella Valley Health Initiative will be held in Coachella. Both are part of the program for The California Endowment. The California Endowment is a statewide, private foundation aiming for healthier communities and greater access to health care. Their mission is certainly far-reaching in purpose and geographically, but this organization is using a wide variety of approaches to affect as many people as possible, many of which include face-to-face forums and discussions. Of course, it is up to each individual to decide that they want to be a part of the healthy living discussion. The California Endowment is providing the programming and resources to encourage individuals to do just that.

Food Bank for New York City CookShop Program

The Food Bank for New York City is using the hands-on approach to steer low-income families toward better nutrition.Their CookShop program teaches children and adults how to cook, shop for healthy items on a budget, and enjoy healthier foods. Schools sign up for the program for their students, and parents then have the opportunity to participate in a class additional to those aimed at children. With this program, families gain the hands-on experience of preparing healthy meals and making better choices while shopping, tools that may greatly affect their future choices. It seems that programs of this sort can be very effective in the long term, as they put the message into action.

Atlanta Local Food Initiative (ALFI)

Community gardens are part of the plan for the Atlanta Local Food Initiative (ALFI). ALFI’s strategy to promote local,sustainable food in Atlanta covers everything from policy initiatives to Farm-to-School programs. But this organization recognizes that the community must be active and included in order for their message to be successful, and that big change often starts on a small scale. Community gardens are a way to enable participation in the local food movement from those who might not otherwise be involved.

While corporate programs, legislation, regulation, and media attention can go a long way toward enabling and encouraging healthy lifestyles for Americans, the path to healthy living must actively involve those who ultimately make the choice to change their nutrition habits or exercise more or give up unhealthy habits. Thankfully many organizations are taking note of the need for community programs and local action, while still holding on to their large-scale goals and initiatives. It is encouraging to see such a wide array of approaches to hands-on efforts for healthy living, many of which are tailored to what works best for each community or for each specific goal.

If you would like to learn more about creative collaboration possibilities that include an enduring and distinctive social purpose for your company, please contact Healthy Living Marketing at (301) 378-0384.

Reduce Obesity to Reduce Health Care Cost

The effort to reduce obesity is often framed in large-scale economic terms. Reducing obesity will reduce the instances of preventable disease and will therefore reduce the costs of health care. This now-familiar refrain is certainly true and a very important reason to combat obesity, but it may do little to inspire a person to eat healthier, exercise more and take control of their weight. What is missing with this message is the sense of urgency for individuals to act. Without individual action, obesity is a growing problem without a solution.

Creative Efforts To Reduce Obesity

Many cities around the country are taking part in creative efforts to reduce obesity; municipalities are instituting taxing soda and candy, creating increased active recreational alternatives, and funding public informational campaigns. While this creative thinking is a step in the right direction, no matter how much funding goes into decreasing obesity in America, it’s up to the individual to actively participate. So far it’s clear from the statistics that many individuals are not taking personal responsibility to decrease obesity.

One city that is on the right track with inspiring individuals is Oklahoma City. Their OKC Million campaign, with a goal of one million lost pounds for city residents, uses a community approach to encourage concrete action. The OKC Million website urges both individuals and groups – families, companies and organizations – to participate in the challenge and rightly states that everyone, whether overweight or not, can and should make their lives healthier. To date OKC Million has 42,275 participants with 577,883 pounds lost. With healthy recipes, tips for exercise, and local success stories, including that of the leading-by-example Mayor, Oklahoma City seems to have a good grasp of what it takes to both help and motivate its residents toward sustained healthy living.

We need more partnerships like OKC Million, between government, companies and the community, to effectively change the direction of obesity in the United States. These partnerships can help instill the senses of urgency and individual responsibility that may be currently missing in the national dialogue. Without more good examples, the trends will continue and the obesity epidemic will only prove more difficult to reverse.

If you would like to learn more about creative collaboration possibilities that include an enduring and distinctive social purpose for your company, please contact Healthy Living Marketing at (301) 378-0384.

Chipotle and the Lunch Box Promote Children’s Nutrition

Chipotle is encouraging people to rid their food and inboxes of junk, and has pledged to donate $10,000 to The Lunch Box for every 100,000 “junk” emails it receives, forwarded from people around the world. The Lunch Box, a recently launched non-profit, provides tools for educators, nutritionists and administrators to give children healthier school lunches.

With developed social marketing tools and a presence around the country, Chipotle is well positioned to get the word out about their own efforts to provide locally sourced, sustainably raised food, and to help The Lunch Box with their own efforts in the process. In promoting its own good practices, Chipotle is also promoting concrete action to change children’s nutrition and health. Their example shows how for-profit companies can channel their own marketing needs into supporting sustainable and healthy living practices.

National Effort for Health and Sustainability

The nationwide effort for better and healthier food options is a cause that’s well suited for these collaborations. People are realizing the importance of making food choices that are good for themselves, their families, communities, and the environment. And after all, these same people run companies, and more and more are deciding to incorporate the same consciousness in their food products. Companies are finding that the numerous non-profits advocating for the healthy food cause can be valuable partners in that they are knowledgeable and have a lot to give to companies looking for expertise and authority on the topic.

But the potential for non-profit partnerships is certainly not limited the food service industry. In fact, companies in many different sectors have the opportunity to gain from collaboration with non-profit organizations that specialize in sustainability and health in a wide variety of areas: everything from technology to trade, humanitarian aid to household products.

If you would like to learn more about creative collaboration possibilities that include an enduring and distinctive social purpose for your company, please contact Healthy Living Marketing at (301) 378-0384.

Strong Economy Improves Quality Of Life

First articulated in 1972 by Bhutan’s former King in his economic plan, Gross National Happiness encompasses the idea that a strong economy improves quality of life, and that both economies and quality of life are much more than monetary wealth.

GDP Out Of Touch With Reality

It’s no secret that GDP mis-states an economy’s success. It does not count volunteer work, workplace productivity, or profit gaps caused by long-term planning. GDP was never meant to be a perfect measurement, and these activities are difficult, if not impossible to measure in monetary terms. But even beyond these omissions, the use of GDP is problematic because it essentially rewards irresponsible and unsustainable business decisions, as long as output follows. For example, the costs of the Gulf oil spill will be added to, not subtracted from, the GDP of the United States in 2010. Imperfections aside, GDP is still the primary worldwide economic indicator. And it’s becoming more and more clear that using GDP is out of touch with reality.

Alternatively, Gross National Happiness seeks to measure the real benefits of, and as a result encourage, sustainable and responsible business decisions – even those that do not lead directly to increased profit or output. If a more comprehensive indicator for success were used worldwide, the entire bottom line of the economy would be shifted; companies would have more incentive to incorporate environmental, social and sustainable practices into their programs, investments and brands.

Measuring Sustainability and Environmental Social Responsibility

As an underlying principle to guide individuals, businesses and governments in their decisions, Gross National Happiness is a concept that’s gaining traction. It’s encouraging to see it being discussed in the blogosphere and in conferences both in the United States and overseas. The challenge now is to develop concrete and objective measurements for the indicators valued by Gross National Happiness. This is not an easy task. How can sustainability be measured? What are the quantitative benchmarks of environmental and social responsibility of businesses and governments? In order to be a plausible alternative to GDP, Gross National Happiness will need to go the route of the World Development Indicators or the Human Rights Index, used by the World Bank and UN respectively, by employing transparent, universal and comprehensive indicators and scales.

Until then, Gross Domestic Happiness is a philosophy – one that can guide businesses in making decisions that benefit their own company, community and the environment.

Healthy Living Marketing helps leading companies throughout North America shape, communicate and demonstrate their commitment to acting responsibly. For information on how to create Gross National Happiness for your own brand, please call (301) 378-0384.

Working Together For Positive Social Change

According to a recent study commissioned by Edelman PR, a majority of people desires to actively work together with businesses, brands and government to create enduring positive social change. Take for instance the recent BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  While BP and the federal government are at work attempting to cap the well, literally an army of possible solution providers has come forward to pitch ideas and concepts to aggressively rid Gulf and shoreline of oil. As of the date of this blog entry, as many as eight thousand individuals and organizations have come forward with proposed solutions. Many of us know of the recommendations proposed by celebrities like James Cameron and Kevin Costner, but few know of proposals like the SQUID device. Regardless of the end outcome and solutions for the BP oil spill disaster, crowd sourcing is an unprecedented development that taps in to the collective genius of people.

Community Projects

Another example of crowd sourcing for positive social change is from Healthy Living Marketing client, Pepsi, and the brand’s Refresh Project. Pepsi is spending a reported $ 20 million in 2010 to fund local community projects created and voted on by the public. According to Dori Molitor of WomanWise, the Pepsi Refresh Project is a fine example of not only connecting with the brand’s “consumers as individuals, but also as communities who work together to make the world a better place.” Molitor refers to this as “me, we, higher purpose”. According to Bonin Bough with Pepsi, the Refresh Project goes far beyond social media and is “about building a social engagement platform that can take the brand beyond one that you know and love to being the brand that is aligned with your passions and enabling you to move the world forward. It’s not only funding passions and projects, the Project has created a forum where people are coming together, sharing ideas and letting their voices be heard on a broader platform.” To date, the Project’s website, RefreshEverything.com has generated more than three million unique visitors, one million registrations, and more than five million votes since the program’s launch in late January 2010.

What other problems can crowd sourcing help solve in the immediate future, where many potential assets go unutilized? One could be the redistribution of 95 billion tons of food wasted each year in the U.S. to help feed the hungry and malnourished. Another could be the continued deterioration of the U.S. education system.

If you would like to learn more about Healthy Living Marketing and Web 2.0 technologies made available for brand equity enhancements, please contact us at (301) 378-0384.

The Third Green Wave

Healthy Living Marketing first learned about United We Can when we worked to support PepsiCo’s sponsorship of the Vancouver Pride Society’s 2009 Pride Parade. Throughout the entire 1.5 mile long parade route, United We Can personnel were stationed to collect and haul away thousands of empty beverage containers left by the reported 600,000 spectators. It was there that we observed the commitment and conviction of United We Can’s Executive Director, Brian Dodd. According to Dodd, “Green sustainable economic development is a path out of poverty. United We Can has been a pioneer in what is now being called the ‘Third Green Wave’, a combination of environmentalism and social equity. For fifteen years, United We Can has been an advocate for marginalized people and the environment, providing people with support, training, and “green collar jobs.” These jobs help lift people out of debilitating poverty and help create community opportunities in a place here in Vancouver commonly referred to as ‘Canada’s poorest postal code’.”

Recycling and Redemption Job Opportunities

Through its social enterprise activities, United We Can has created hundreds of employment opportunities for the less fortunate and disadvantaged by collecting recyclables at local business, apartment complexes, and of course, special events. The organization also offers commercial collection service by truck for large volume customers.

Sustaining Urban Environment

Given its mission to create sustaining urban enterprise that helps care for the environment, United We Can has expanded their services to now include –

- The Bintek Computer Lab that acquires salvaged computer parts and rebuilds system-ready computers that are then sold at an affordable price to low-income residents.

- BikeWorks, a “pedal-power” shop that provides service, sales and instruction to the public who needs bicycle repair at a nominal cost.

- Happy Plants, which sells rescued plants and support services to the Public.

- SOLE Food Inner City Urban Farm, that provides organically-grown food and sustenance to local residents and community kitchens. The farm provides training and employment opportunities to residents from Vancouver’s Downtown East Side to build, plant, maintain and harvest the farm. SOLE is expanding to a second site in the downtown Vancouver area shortly.

Healthy Living Marketing helps leading companies throughout North America shape, communicate and demonstrate their commitment to acting responsibly. For information on how brands can benefit from associations with socially responsible organizations like United We Can, please call (301) 378-0384.