Green Daily

The New York Times reported on a notoriously un-green industry's attempt to get environmentally friendly. The Green Marketing Coalition, a group of direct-marketers along with some companies that use their services, have come up with some recommended guidelines for this industry to get greener.

There isn't really anything revolutionary here (no target dates, for instance) and most of the 10 guideline points are pretty vague. The first point, for example, "Marketers from any size company can incorporate green marketing into their existing marketing campaigns or initiatives." is not going to turn the industry around overnight. On the other hand, suggestions like, "Just by improving list hygiene and data management, companies can target better and drastically cut down on advertising waste." could help in reducing car insurance junk mail I constantly receive despite not owning a car.

The US postal service is trying to green this industry as well - they've apparently trademarked the awkward term "environMAIList" which they will use to brand marketers that adopt eco-friendly mailing practices like using recycled paper.

Despite the cost-effectiveness of online marketing, those little coupons and real-estate brochures are not going to disappear any time soon ("The return on investment is just too high", according to one marketer quoted in the NYT piece). The Green Marketing Coalition is, however, an admission that something has to be done in this wasteful (and annoying) practice. At this point, I'm not putting away my "No Junk Mail!" sign.