Green Spin (Or) Promoting the Green Message 2013

GREEN SPIN (Or)

Promoting the Green Message

Published and written by Nicolle Kuna

This work is Copyright © 2013 Nicolle Kuna.

SMASHWORDS EDITION

ISBN- 9781476163048

Formatted by eBooksMade4You

Cover Design by Laine Hogarty, Origin Design

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Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

The e book version of this book is licensed for the personal enjoyment of the purchaser and this reproduction should not be re-sold, shared or given away to other people. If you would like to share a copy of the e book with someone else, please purchase a copy for that person. The price of the e book reflects the intention of the author that the book be affordable and within the purchasing power for the general audience for which it was written. Therefore, please acknowledge the work of the author in bringing this book to publication as an independent publication, and make sure you have paid for the e book copy you are reading, unless this is a ‘for loan’ version.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review as authorised under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Vic), no part may be reproduced by any process, other than with the express written permission of the author.

Inquiries should be referred to the author via the www.converseconserve.com website.

All information about campaigns or corporate positioning is provided as an illustration of the example under discussion, and is not intended to be relied upon as an up to date, accurate summation of any environmental statistic, activity, campaign or public affairs status. Whilst all facts were correct so far as possible at the time of writing this book, readers should make their own inquiries about corporate positions, green campaigns and policies, as these do change without notice.

Any references to websites or blog pages are used as examples to illustrate the point being made, and the reader should check the status of the current website or web-blog for current details. It is noted that web-page links may not be available for public viewing, by the time this book is published.

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GREEN SPIN (Or) Promoting the Green Message

Nicolle Kuna, author of Common Sense Law, with a background in community law education and workshop facilitation, has a long-standing interest in what makes human beings act in the way they do. Her first book was concerned with the common mistakes which people make in handling their legal problems and contained tips for preventing their conflagration.

Having campaigned with a variety of environmental groups, and completed a Diploma in Sustainable Landscape Design, her interest in behavior change has now turned to the field of sustainability communications. Nicolle’s second book, Green Spin PGM investigates emerging trends and patterns for communicating the green message and evaluates how these messages might be effective in changing the behavior of our mainstream audience.

What readers are saying about this book

Don’t be fooled by the easy-to-read conversational style of Green Spin (Or) Promoting the Green Message. Nicolle Kuna delivers a well-researched and relevant book challenging greenie readers to rethink the ways they bring behavior change to the mainstream audience. Nicolle’s legal background is apparent in the way she deftly puts the case for more subtle, amusing and emotionally engaging advertising to promote green behaviour. Her premise that shocking/catastrophic images have to be toned down is so true! The references at the back of the book invite the reader to explore further writings on the topic. This is a great resource for anyone working in environmental media.

Frances M. Wojcik,

Environmental volunteer, Remedial Massage Therapist, and Community Gardener.

Well worth a read. Really like the way Nicolle speaks about topsoil (which is something most of us never think about) in an interesting way in her intro. I really enjoyed her section on environmental humour, as well. She puts a fresh take on the way we communicate environmental and socially important issues. Being a teacher and tutor, I have to think about how I communicate a message to get young people engaged. Much the same can be said about Year 8 mathematics as the environment – it’s really about getting people engaged and interested – that’s the hard part, really. GREEN SPIN – PGM is an uplifting, practical read, that doesn’t get bogged down in theory.

David Kinston,

Proprietor of Student Connections Coaching College Melbourne

I read Nicolle’s book and enjoyed hearing the ideas - plenty of inspiration to be found there. She makes a very good point about the power of story-telling in explaining solutions to environmental problems. So true!

Andrew Cox, active environmentalist and spokesperson for a range of green groups

I found the book really interesting, and the material quite original. I wish there were more environmental people thinking along the lines of Nicolle in the way she wrote this book. She really gets inside the minds of the audience that green advocates are dealing with. I think we need more books like this that challenge the status quo. Her website is worth a visit, too.

Bella Brillant,

Business Proprietor

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 Empathy equals Action

Changing the Spin

How Greenies Are Branching Out

Chapter 2 Green Cause Marketing

Marketing – The Playing Field

The Who, How and What Boxes of Green Social Marketing

Working Beyond the Rational Level

More Communication Tips

Chapter 3 Themes and tools for changing how we feel about green issues

Walking the Talk – Extending the Reach

Popular forms of Green Media

Chapter 4 Examples of Campaigns and Why They Work

Advertising Campaigns – why they work

Websites and Campaigns - why they work

Why Story-telling works in the Green Campaigns context

Making Sustainability Fun

Economics, Society and the Earth Working together

Chapter 5 Green Communications Theory (Briefly)

The Challenges: the divide, the non-believers, does Green Equal Mean?

Theories on behaviour change (in brief)

About the Author

Bibliography

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Preface

As a piece of writing which is being published on-line needn’t be static, the on-line work takes on the qualities of a blog, as the material is ever evolving.

In the same way, our green campaigns and education styles are ever-evolving with the times.

We greenies are now busily researching what inspires change

What was the inspiration for this book?

Early in 2011, when I was still studying my Sustainability Diploma, I was talking to Bruce, the President of Sustainable Gardening Australia, where I was a regular volunteer, and he says, ‘Nicky, we really need to get together and talk about this topic of behaviour change’, and he says, ‘Nicky, here are some topics. Can you go away and research these for me?’ So I say (and I have to admit it looked very complicated to say the least), ‘Sure thing, Bruce’ as Bruce is one of these people who oozes encouragement and you just can’t help wanting to do whatever it is he suggests. Away I went and began researching the subject of behaviour change and while I was examining the topic I started looking up and comparing websites and also, rereading some campaign letters that I happened to keep on file (I don’t know exactly why except that I’m a hoarder of newspaper clippings, and printed materials from the days when I campaigned with the Australian Democrats.)

Behaviour change works both ways.

And as a person who realises that we need to change our styles and approaches, I have now rearranged the style and format of this book, to make it (I hope) more easy to follow. As I was doing my research in to behavior change, it struck me that we greenies are always asking the masses to change their behavior, to change their attitudes, and the basic expectation is that the public need to become more green. And I began thinking of ways greenies might insinuate themselves in to the hearts and minds of the people who they are preaching to, in order to understand them better. So rather than just focussing our attention on the rest of society, and how they might change, as change agents, I decided we need to focus a bit on ourselves and how we might change, too. I use the word greenie rather than environmental campaigner, activist, for brevity’s sake. Also, I find the use of the word greenie conveys that we can be a more open, and relaxed bunch of people. This is one example of how we can change.

For which audience is this book written?

This book is dedicated to those engaged in professions which are concerned with behaviour change in the environmental sphere. The book is written for cause-marketers and representatives of grass-roots environmental interest groups who are looking for ideas and ways they can broaden their market reach and increase support for their causes. Those working on environmental campaign projects, those employed in education roles, environmental consultancies or working as sustainability officers may find this book thought provoking, as well.

This book may also be helpful for cause-marketers and social networking marketers across different issue areas and anyone interested in the promotion of the green message.

The style of writing I use is not a conventional behaviour change style, as I do admit to operating on a stream of consciousness level. Writing this way personally makes for a better well-spring of ideas. It also means that I do sometimes make the point, twice!

Some definitions

What do I mean by greenies as opposed to non-greenies? Greenie: includes anyone who identifies with being environmentally conscious and is therefore interested in taking action in their day to day lives, and is keen to stay informed on matters affecting the environment. This group can also include accidental greenies, that is people who don’t identify with the movement but who just happen to live low carbon lifestyles.

Non-greenie: includes anyone who is either averse to greenie causes or is not interested in taking action and who chooses not to be informed on matters affecting the environment. I occasionally refer to non-greenies as non-converts and fence-sitters, or even quite inaccurately, as mainstream society. I realise that none of these definitions are very scientific, and there are those who spend a lot of time classifying green behaviour according to the level of dedication, but this book is more concerned with generalities seen across campaigns and educational styles, rather than scientific classifications and psychographic specifics. We’re all different by degrees, and therefore I don’t even like using labels, as I know how inaccurate they can be.

I don’t try to differentiate between all the different attitudes whether it be climate change sceptics and contrarians, or greenie haters, or those who are undecided. We would be here all day trying to account for the myriad of personality types who don’t empathise with the various greenie causes. We would also be there all day trying to classify greenies in to very dedicated, somewhat dedicated, etcetera. I would also like to add that this is a field which cannot always invite scientific precision. We are dealing with human beings who are about as predictable as goldfish swishing around a pond. There are books which adopt a more scientific approach than this one, and also, will take the average reader twice as long to read. Oddly enough, my main premise behind writing this book, is that we can be a little less scientific in our approach to behaviour change, and use our intuitions and our gut-feelings a whole lot more. I believe the strictly rational approach to behaviour change is a bit off track. We might need to be listening, looking and feeling with our hearts, more and giving our (cluttered) minds a bit of a breather.

If a reader wishes to comment on any opinions expressed in this book, I would be happy to read and respond to their comments on my website, at www.converseconserve.com

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Chapter 1 Empathy equals Action

Why empathy matters?

I’m walking down the street holding my shopping in my hands and as I walk past a group of people look at me strangely, as if to say, ‘You’re about to drop your shopping. Why didn’t you just take a shopping bag? They’re free, you know!’ Then I walk past another woman, and she regards me in a different way, with sympathy, ‘Oh dear, you forgot to bring your own shopping bag, didn’t you?’ The thing is that when I forget to bring my own bags and take away a plastic one or two, I really feel that I’ve let the team down, especially when I see other people carrying their shopping away in reuseable ones. In other words, this scenario demonstrates I feel compelled to do the right thing, when I see the example set by people who I empathise with. I’m aware of the fact that it may not be a common feeling that others experience, this feeling of letting down the team by taking away single use plastic bags, every time they shop.

But it does leave one questioning, am I normal, and how much are one’s actions guided by a feeling of empathy with the habits and the overall example set by other parties? While some may subscribe to the view that we act in a vacuum, and without being affected by the actions of other people, I am a firm believer in the fact that we are social beings, and that we are very susceptible to the standards and norms which society sets. If not, why do so many people now subscribe to the internet, and why do they so fervently join up with social media programmes? Why is there always a frenzy to purchase the latest mobile phone or gadget? Why are outdoor rooms increasingly becoming the new rage? Is it just that these things and ways of life are so individually sought after, or is it some form of social imprimatur that is at work. Our social habits are dictated by social fads and trends, in the same way that the way we dress is affected by the latest sartorial fashions.

Despite what I have said above, I am still unsure one can draw the logical conclusion that empathy with a specific course of action leads to a change of behaviour, in other words empathy equals action, in all cases. To be sure, we can feel empathy for the reasons why another person acts a certain way, but that doesn’t mean that we go on to mimick that person’s behaviour. For example, we can empathise with a friend’s display of anger towards his boss, and the fact that his anger gets too much for him and so he goes on to resign, even though he still hasn’t found another job. This doesn’t mean that in the same situation, we would act the same way and resign, as we may be a lot more cautious, in our work choices.

It is very easy to confuse sympathy and empathy. Perhaps in this situation we are really only feeling sympathy, and that if something really akin to empathy were coming in to play, then we might resign as well,