“It’s not a matter of business as usual, it is a matter of total innovation in business models, in operations, in marketing too. Total innovation tends to go one of two ways: ignominious failure or dramatic success.” – John Grant, from The Green Marketing Manifesto
A few days into reading The Green Marketing Manifesto by John Grant, we received a call from a potential new client. Their name was ClimatePath, and they needed help defining, designing and implementing their digital brand. So I plowed through the Green Marketing Manifesto in order to be better prepared and educated for the meeting. In reading the book, it raised question after question on what “green” marketing meant, and specifically about the concept of carbon offsetting. Is carbon offsetting am efficient approach compared to reducing emissions at the source? Does carbon offsetting reduce other environmental impacts? Does carbon offsetting encourage ongoing or even increased guilt-free consumption? Difficult questions to answer, and throughout there was one concept really stuck with me: Climate change requires culture change.
With that in mind, we met with ClimatePath and discussed what they wanted to do. They also recognized that carbon offsetting is not the end goal… the end goal is to reduce the production of carbon. But as part of the collective cultural process of producing less carbon, one of the first steps is to educate on conservation in order to reduce what we can, and offer the tools and ability to offset what we can’t. And instead of offering a cookie-cutter solution to offsetting, ClimatePath knows “not everyone can or wants to become carbon neutral in the same way, and the idea that carbon offsets generic commodities without unique characteristics or quality differences is just plain wrong.” Their mission is to “let you offset and conserve in the way that is right for you.” Through this mission, and through their site, they answered many of the questions raised in the Green Marketing Manifesto.
All of this thinking, strategizing, concepting, designing and development resulted in the recent launch of ClimatePath’s new site:
www.climatepath.org
As a company, Substance is committed to leaving the planet in a better condition than the way we found it; working with ClimatePath is simply one way in which we get to combine what we do and why we do it into a tangible, world-changing solution. We helped ClimatePath realize their vision of not simply creating a carbon offsetting site, but creating a site that acts as a thought leader, conservation resource, forum for discussion, and yes, a place to offset your carbon footprint. And offset in a way that allows for differing opinons and philosophies – you get to choose the types of projects you want to “invest” in, from reforestation to alternative energy to fair trade – your footprint is offset in a way that matches with your lifeview, not a generic carbon offsetting account. You control not only where your dollars are going, but why you want to invest in specific projects.
The site is built on the Drupal framework, with the backend development by Giant Rabbit. It allows people to create an account, calculate their carbon footprint, track their offsetting progress, contribute to the discussion on carbon offsetting and reduction, and learn different ways to reduce their own carbon footprint from other members. Registered members can also stay up to date on the projects they’ve chosen to invest in and invite others to join the ClimatePath movement.
A huge thanks to Dave and Katy from ClimatePath for bringing such an impressive and important vision to life, and for letting us contribute to the effort. You guys embody what a “do better” philosophy can accomplish.
Substance believes in you!
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