Just back from the first day of Ecobuild 2010, and a fantastic day meeting old friends, colleagues, journalists and many clients past and present.
The show, billed as "the biggest event in the world for sustainable design, construction and the built environment", is definitely one of the highlights of our year, and a fruitful source of ideas for this blog.
There is much I could explore in terms of the exhibition this year (many more products, lots more greenwash), or the marketing strategies on display (including some interesting examples of how not to promote your organisation at an event like this), but for now let me just tell you about a short debate I sat in on this afternoon in the Arena, on the issue of the media's role in promoting sustainability.
The panel was Eve Pollard (former tabloid editor), Alastair McGowan (impressionist, TV star and environmental campaigner) and Peter Bazalgette (of Endemol/Big Brother fame). They were chaired by the ever-sceptical Andrew Neil who revelled in his role as devil's advocate.
The debate confirmed my suspicion that the last people on earth you should ask about communicating sustainability are a bunch of media celebs:
- Andrew Neil focused heavily on Climategate and other examples of eco mis-selling as justification for unlimited cynicism,
- Alastair McGowan sadly failed to counter any of this, instead complaining that the media don't get behind sustainability as much as they should because of "fear of facing our mortality",
- Eve Pollard launched her big idea that Ecobuild exhibitors should all be marketing their products to women via glossy consumer mags because "women are inherently sustainable",
- and Peter Bazalgette insisted that the media's role was to question and interrogate any use of the word 'sustainable' and we should not expect the media to 'promote' anything.
My view? Well, yes I did take the opportunity to rant back at the panel, I admit.
They all had some interesting points, especially about the damage that is done by greenwash.
But my view was that we should all be a lot more positive. While they were sitting around debating whether green was good and whether the media should or could get involved, the rest of us were getting on with it.
Hardly a day goes by without me seeing a new 'green living', 'green building' or 'green business' column in a paper, feature in a magazine or programme on TV or radio. Most parts of the media are very interested in examples of environmental sustainability, especially when it touches our day-to-day lives.
Journalists are often just as excited as we are by the sorts of innovations we saw at Ecobuild. They are not tuning out to ponder their mortality. They are not dismissing genuine news stories out of world-weary cynicism. They are open to ideas and examples of sustainability in practice - and I for one was very proud of the efforts and achievements of the many people I saw at Ecobuild who were marketing and promoting their work to the media with real flair and enthusiasm.