No Hugs for Trees
In 2003, fed up with how misleading, uninspiring, and ineffectual the majority of eco-friendly products and services were, we joked about starting the 'eco-mean' alternative -- informative, designed, and effective. Fake Forest, we named it.
The buzz about "sustainability" was getting louder in Los Angeles. "What does 'sustainability' mean?" was a reasonable question everybody was asking. But since we were already familiar with the term, what we wanted to know is: Can individuals and small initiatives, as opposed to large corporations, actually make something truly sustainable? The answer, we'd soon learn, is complicated. It's important to note that we didn't set out to make a product for the sake of making a product. We set out to conduct quantifiable research about the 'sustainability of sustainability' through the development of a product that could be tested in the market, studying and documenting each step of the process.
Fake Forest began with identifying a culturally and economically thriving yet environmentally damaging practice: stationery. But how could we possibly compete with all the existing fun and inexpensive variations? To produce something sustainably is to be confronted with complex questions of waste, cruelty, and toxicity.
We debated our resources and risks, and decided to devote our research to the design of "Vintage Magazine Notes," a set of recycled writing sheets and envelopes made from vintage magazines. Each set contains: five envelopes made from old magazine pages hand selected, then converted into window envelopes; ten writing sheets that are 100% post-consumer waste recycled, acid- and process chlorine free printed with direct-to-plate filmless technology without toxic photographic chemicals; and low impact packaging 100% biodegradable cellophane sleeve (breaks down in 2 months,) non-toxic adhesives and soy-based inks (60%).
While producing over 30,000 sets in 3 years we experienced first-hand the grey areas of green thinking, namely that the information needed to produce things sustainably is not readily accessible. You can't just storm in as the eco-police or people won't work with you. Not to mention, many vendors will tell you what they think you want to hear. Continual difficulty with information verification made us seriously question the capacity for individuals and small initiatives, lacking the buying power of large corporations, to ensure sustainable practices from the vendors that we collaborate with, especially from printers, packaging producers and shipping companies.
What we'd like to discuss are some of the greyest areas that we've encountered while attempting to participate in the creation of so-called sustainable economies and cultures.
By documenting and sharing our process and direct experiences, the intention was not to be dystopic, but rather to be holistic and realistic about existing opportunities for individuals and small initiatives to develop sustainable strategies and systems. Keep in mind: our experiences aren't necessarily relevant to everyone. The sustainability of sustainability varies considerably from case to case, country to country, city to city.
Local Math
How can we develop a sustainable system of acquiring and replenishing the vintage magazine stock? Should we buy the magazines locally (thrift shops, used bookstores, flea markets) which would support our local economy, or from a bulk magazine warehouse located out of state? Which produces less carbon emissions driving to several local sources, driving eleven hours to a magazine warehouse, or having the magazines shipped to us?
After doing fuel efficiency evaluations we decided to buy local, combining our infrequent magazine pickups with other driving errands.
Soy Misconceptions
In school graphic designers are often taught: to make a difference simply use recycled paper and soy-based inks, and your job's done. And we did just that for many years. But our Fake Forest research revealed another side of the story. Soy-based inks were created for offset printing which consumes large amounts of ink for projects like newspapers, books and magazines. Soy-based inks are too thin and transparent for letterpress printing, for instance. As we learned from Julie Holcomb Printers, "Letterpress printing uses very little ink, but in offset printing when you substitute soy-based inks for petroleum-based inks, you do conserve a significant amount of petroleum. Though the benefits may be arguable, since soy-based inks are generally only 20-30% soy oil, and soy is unlikely to be on any environmentalist's list of favorite crops. Although it is a renewable source of oil, it is cultivated in a pesticide- and herbicide-intensive manner, and many areas of the world are currently being deforested to prepare for its cultivation. Soy-based inks are no less toxic than petroleum-based inks and must be disposed of in the same way. Paper is equally recyclable when printed with either kind of ink."
At the time of printing our product, there were no local printers that used certified organic soy or vegetable-based inks, let alone renewable energy.
Clean Air Myth
In 2003, Fed-Ex announced that it would begin deploying clean-burning hybrid trucks at a rate of 3,000 per year instead of diesel (replace 30,000 trucks in 10 years). EPA gave them the Clean Air Excellence Prize in 2004. As of May 31, 2007, they've purchased less than 100 hybrid trucks.
So, at the end of the day how sustainable is Fake Forest? For many, our first experiment is a success story, but for us not sustainable enough.
Here's why:
Lack of Transparency
How can we be transparent if the vendors we work with are not? Refusal to reveal ingredients, processes and practices continues to be our biggest obstacle. Aside from legal enforcement, it is difficult to think of a more effective incentive for industry to disclose the materials used in their products and how they get produced from start to finish, so that people can make the most informed choices possible.
Destructive Distribution Methods (The Anthropologie Story)
When we began selling larger volumes meaning when corporate retailers took interest (the point at which our product started becoming profitable) we were forced to propose alternatives to their wasteful "routing restrictions," a massive rule book that specifies bundling/packaging requirements (so that receiving can repack and redistribute the product to stores nationwide,) designated shipping companies, regulated box sizes, and mandatory transferred labor such as pricing and labeling (e.g. we had to buy the labels from them and place them on the product by hand according to the manual). Very few corporations cooperated with our propositions.
Patterns vs. Volumes
In our estimation, Fake Forest Vintage Magazine Notes were only affecting patterns of consumption, not volumes. Retailers (mostly high-end boutiques) priced the product up to 4 times higher than wholesale price. Therefore, it was mostly consumed as a luxury eco-gift rather than a substitute for conventional stationery consumption of the same genre.
So, yeah, like we said, not sustainable enough.
Transcript from a talk given at the London College of Communication, as part of the green workshops initiative. November 9, 2007
Download a pdf with the questions generated before, during and after Fake Forest's first experiment with sustainability