GreenGraffiti Street vervuiling or a duurzaam alternative

[Jim Bowes]

Hemshaven a duurzame graphic design firm started GreenGraffiti as an answer to a problem we had encountered. How could we offer our clients the ability to communicate their message to a mass audience while having as little impact on the environment as possible.

Strangely enough, and correct me if I am wrong, the communications/marketing/advertising industry seems to be suspiciously absent from the discussion about sustainability. How can it be that an industry that is renown for being creative, innovative and cutting edge can be lagging so far behind?

I attend several events concerning duurzaamheid a month, am a member of many clubs formed to discuss the situation, search the web endlessly yet I run into almost no people from our industry. For an industry that seems to be getting an unfair share of the blame for our over consumption, I am a bit puzzled by the lack of involvement. Surely if we helped create the problem using tried and true techniques to educate, create awareness and the need, we can apply these same techniques to helping solve the problems we are facing.

GreenGraffiti is an alternative to traditional outdoor advertising and in my opinion it has a bright future. We are socially responsible donating 10% of our profits to local community organizations, we compensate the impact we have on the environment and we create almost no waste. It is a perfect medium for companies looking to communicate in a sustainable manner.

We have not been able to get permits to execute campaigns as there are no rules that apply to our process. This has scared off many prospective clients who don't want to "get into trouble" and I understand their concerns. Since we are only removing dirt, we are not doing anything illegal or should I say there are currently no laws that apply to removing a substance from a surface only for adding a substance such as paint or chalk. We can only hope that the gemeenten of the Netherlands continue to allow us to provide this service and we think they will as it is a pretty simple and logical solution. It would be nice if they would actually allow it as imagine how hard it is to grow a business not knowing if you will be allowed to conduct your business or not.

We will keep on providing this valuable service that is perhaps the only form of outdoor communication that is sustainable and we hope that other ideas will start to come from our industry as it is a bit sad that our industry as a whole will make money communicating sustainability but we lack any sustainable innovations that we can use to communicate that message.