Greening with Five P's (446 words)

Greening With Five P's

A famous Muppet sang, "It's not easy being green," but two major catalogers are singing a different tune, offering proof that kindness to the earth can be good business.

The Direct Marketing Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors recognized Patagonia of Ventura, CA, and Norm Thompson Outfitters (NTO) of Portland, OR, for their environmental efforts with Robert Rodale Awards. Patagonia was named Recycler of the Year and NTO Environmental Mailer of the Year.

The companies have achieved high levels of earth-friendliness through changes in "five P's": product, packaging, printing, postal and power.

Product: Some Patagonia products use fleece made from recycled plastic bottles—about 10 million a year, the company says. Patagonia also started a remnant recycling program, in which it manufactures a line of infant clothing using fabric left over from producing adult clothing. In the first five months of the program, Patagonia prevented 160 tons of scrap waste from going to landfills.

NTO donates its hemming remnants to a non-profit organization that employs disabled workers to weave quilts. Both companies use organic cottons in many products.

Packaging: NTO, which mails more than 2 million packages a year, has joined with University of Portland students to evaluate eco-smart packaging alternatives based on their cost, quality, aesthetics and sustainability. NTO greened up its gift-certificate holders as well, switching from three bleached, non-recyclable pieces to one unbleached piece made of recycled content.

Printing: Patagonia prints its catalogs on various types of recycled fiber paper. How does the company make higher-cost recycled paper work economically? Carrie Randolph, direct commerce manager for Patagonia, says, "We spend a lot of time sourcing our options." Environmental correctness is important to many Patagonia customers, who expect it and reward Patagonia with their business.

NTO uses recycled (50 percent post-consumer), processed, chlorine-free paper for the cover stock of NTO's Early Winters catalog. "We reduced basis weight to offset the increased cost of the recycled paper," explains NTO's corporate sustainability manager, Derek Smith.

Postal: Patagonia uses catalog inserts and NTO order forms to promote The DMA's Mail Preference Service to customers wishing to opt out of mailings. NTO and Patagonia also cut down on waste by effectively merge/purging their lists to reduce duplicates. Patagonia uses no foils or plastic windows in its mailings and NTO uses corn starch-based envelope windows.

Power: Patagonia is committed to total wind-energy usage for its Nevada call center and distribution facilities. NTO's corporate headquarters is a "green" building with natural lighting that saves it 35 percent annually on energy use.

Besides the five P's, Patagonia shows its eco-mindedness by giving 1 percent of sales or 10 percent of profits to environmental causes.

—Scott Shrake