What do skateboard wheels, a crack pipe, tea lights, plastic cutlery, and Band-Aids have in common?

They were collected by us Hot Tomalians at English Bay Beach as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup on Sept 15.

Aaah, I know… the things we get up to! This is the second year in a row Hot Tomali has participated in the Shoreline Cleanup. We were choked when the lovely summery weather we’d been enjoying abruptly departed and the rains came the moment we met up. But in the end it didn’t dampen our spirits. Armed with garbage pickers and donning lovely yellow vests, our crew — including our accountant and his wife — took to the beach and got to work. Two hours later, this is what the dozen or so of us managed to collect:

• Bags (Paper): 83
• Bags (Plastic): 101
• Balloons: 7
• Beverage Bottles (Plastic): 26
• Glass Beverage Bottles: 37
• Beverage Cans: 13
• Caps, Lids: 146
• Clothing, Shoes: 16
• Cups, Plates, Forks, Knives, Spoons: 89
• Food Wrappers/Containers: 327
• Pull Tabs: 14
• 6-Pack Holders: 7
• Straws, Stirrers: 55
• Toys: 4
• Pallets: 1
• Rope: 7
• Strapping Bands: 7
• Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters: 1,966
• Cigarette Lighters: 6
• Cigar Tips: 1
• Tobacco Packaging/Wrappers: 8
• Batteries: 1
• Building Materials: 6
• Tires: 1
• Car Parts: 1
• Tampons: 1
• Band-Aids: 4
• Crack Pipe: 1
• Skateboard Wheels: 40
• Gum: 4
• Tea Lights: 30
• Plastic Ruler: 1
• Belt: 1

In 2010, Shoreline Cleanup participants collectively picked up over 200,000 butts, covered a total distance of 2,235 km, and picked up 98,071 kg of litter. The biggest culprits? Cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bags, lids, and disposable plates and cutlery.

It feels good to know we were a part of that success. This year we collected twice the amount of cigarette butts from last year: almost 2,000! There’s no two buts about it: we did our part to help the environment and keep English Bay Beach looking beautiful.

Our team came prepared. Having been supplied garbage pickers, garbage bags, and gloves from the City, we were ready to do our part. The sun was shining almost as if to say, “It’s the last day of summer; it’s the least I can do.”

We separated into three teams with one recorder per team. That was my job. I got to tick off on my data card every wrapper, bottle cap, plastic bag, cigarette butt — you name it. The park didn’t seem atrocious when we scoped it out, but it was amazing how much litter was lurking. It was mere minutes before I ran out of room trying to tick off the amount of wrappers I found. When we got to the one hundredth cigarette I realized just how many were there. Interesting finds included a raw fish fillet wrapped in plastic, a car fuse, two fireworks (one being the possible remnant of a homemade pipe bomb), and a fake fingernail. And a condom, but sadly that isn’t too unusual.

We got some odd looks by passersby. The bums on the bench kept to themselves but eventually we had to start picking up near them. I heard one guy say, “We’re surrounded.” They didn’t seem too enthused. Jan found a few dollars in coins not far from where they were sitting. He exclaimed, “I found money. But I don’t want to keep it.” At least that’s what I heard. So I said, “Give it to them,” meaning the bums. They were all ears and then when Jan said, “No I said I want to keep it” I felt like an idiot and the bums were disappointed. They asked if anyone in our office smoked and I said no, we’re all pretty healthy, and he said, “You can smoke and still be healthy.” Not in my books buddy.

In an hour and a half, we collected 1,032 cigarette butts, 362 wrappers/containers, 37 lids, 22 plastic bags, and an assortment of other rubbish. I’m still in shock at how much we did in such a short time. We kicked butt!

This shot is pretty disturbing. Not even sure what's going on here.

Because we end up getting a lot of takeout, we end up with a ton of styrofoam. It sucks, but it’s kind of an unavoidable reality at this point, and so we wash it all out, stack it in a box and then get it over to these guys http://www.pacificmobiledepots.com

All the styrofoam containers we use get picked up by them and shipped off to recycling plants. They take a ton more materials as well, so check them out and see if you can find a way to integrate this kind of program in your business. Every bit helps.

If this guy can do it on his bike, you can to!

If you have some other ideas, we’d love to hear them – post a comment or two!

Clay

With the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote, Vote Earth is a global call to action for every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet.

www.voteearth2009.org

Nowadays, sure, recycling is standard. It’s just a part of everyday life. We all know we need to do it, so we do. No questions asked, no expectations… we’re just trying to save the planet, one sheet of paper at a time.

So it’s a thrill when someone notices the differences you’re making, no matter how big or small they are. We at Hot Tomali — always striving to reduce our environmental footprint — are proud to say that during 2007, we diverted over 12 cubic yards of recyclable materials from the landfill. That’s the equivalent of six full-sized pickup trucks, or two cubic tonnes of carbon emissions. For the record, one cubic tonne of paper equals about 17 average sized trees.

Imagine what you could do?

“Due to overwhelming popular demand from eco-design geeks and Tetris fans worldwide,” Cocoon of Winnipeg has officially launched its Oi modular seating. The design company is taking pre-orders on 100 first-edition Oi modular seating sets. These are a new concept brand of environmentally low-impact modular furniture. The first piece, a modular loveseat, was unveiled at the 2006 International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City. Since then, the Oi project has been featured in design publications and online at BusinessWeek.com and Treehugger.com. A set costs $2,300, plus shipping and taxes.

Source: Applied Arts Magazine

Hot Tomali is continuing to build expertise in the area of sustainable marketing. Our latest client, The Delphi Group, is an Ottawa based consultant on environmental and sustainable business practices. We’re in the process of helping them with a full brand audit and positioning. After that it’s a full on re-brand from the ground up (logo, collateral, brochure, web, etc.). More to report on that project as it unfolds…

Here are a few other companies Hot Tomali works with in the eco-marketing space:

Globe Foundation helps businesses go green and remian profitable doing it. That’s a great motivator as the environmental movement shifts from the living room to the boardroom. Any executive guilty of ignoring a way to make a positive impact on the environment without risking their company’s profits would be negligent. Globe has also been in the game for 20 years, so you could say they didn’t jump on the green bandwagon. They invented it.

Cloudworks Energy is a producer of green, renewable electricity. Their Run-of-River projects generate energy with far less environmental impact on the surrounding eco-system than conventional hydroelectric projects.

Skylark Capital is a leading private investment firm that holds a diverse and growing international portfolio of investments in renewable energy projects such as wind and solar.

G.A.P Adventures is a responsible eco tour operator with a commitment to offering low-impact tours that benefit traveler and host alike. They work with local communities, businesses and individuals to develop sustainable tourism opportunities that help local economies while minimizing negative environmental and cultural impacts.

Aspen/Snowmass has put their best foot, or rather their ski boot, forward on the eco-marketing campaign trail. Their ad campaign to kick-off the 2007/2008 season doesn’t feature happy smiling people frolicking in the snow. There are no “Warren Miller” style shots of extreme skiers doing those death-defying jumps over stunning vistas of steep mountains buried in deep powder. No post card photos of their epic natural surroundings. There isn’t even a call to action for lift tickets or accommodations.

Instead, their campaign features shocking visuals that depict the mountains of Colorado as an endangered species destined to become something future generations will only read about in history books.

This shock tactic campaign is a message for their 1.4 million annual visitors who may be taking for granted the natural resources which only last year produced record-breaking snowfall.

“Don’t confuse climate with weather!” says the campaign’s microsite, SaveSnow.com. They go on to explain that they received record snowfall last year, but the overall trend is negative. The nights are getting warmer, the snow is melting earlier and globally snowfall is diminishing.

The message of the campaign is about getting everyone to change the way they carry out their everyday lives. Their site quotes NASA’s James Hansen as stating that “Solving climate change will be the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced.”

That’s heavy material to use when marketing such an experiential product as skiing. However Advertising Age reports that this campaign is having a big impact and it’s “galvanizing a mostly wealthy market segment.”

I think this is a fascinating concept. Share your worst fears with your customer base and see if it can encourage them to make a difference. The campaign has been called extremely risky in the press, but you also have to note the potential reward, and what’s at stake.

The customer doesn’t just listen anymore, they actually take part in the conversation. The potential for this kind of a movement to pick up steam and become a social marketing phenomena is fantastic. The PR value is golden (I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this on CNN or Business Week in the upcoming month), and the biggest risk really is that of wasting valuable media dollars on a message that doesn’t “sell their product”. Aspen must have deep enough pockets to gamble a bit of the present on their future, and I think they also believe that their cause is far more important than a strategically placed piece of communications. They are saying this because it’s what they believe. They are brave enough to take a stand, which is refreshing in our politically correct society.

This campaign has the capability to motivate consumers who are passionate about skiing to change their entire lifestyle to protect it. That is what I call a deep-rooted loyalty. It’s also great to see marketers looking outside the box and realizing that advertising is also about guiding your market rather than simply spoon-feeding your customers with tactical sales messages. Don’t get me wrong, promotions and retail messages have their place, as do brands, but truly great innovative organizations are going to succeed by building and nurturing consumer relationships. This means inviting them to the conversation and having a two-way dialogue.

Some major advice I have for other companies who are looking to try and ride the big green eco-wave is “walk the walk, before you talk the talk.” Companies getting caught “green washing” or using eco-marketing simply as a new marketing platform not only look bad when they are exposed, they also risk backlash and extremely bad press.

To further this philosophy, read the Sixth Sustainability Report published by Aspen Snowmass. You’ll be surprised to see that they used a picture of their mountain’s “boneyard” (otherwise known as a scrap heap) as the cover photo. They go on to explain it like this:

“We did a survey of sustainability reports from some leading green businesses and noticed that, without exception, corporate sustainability reports are more like marketing pieces than assessments of a business’s path toward sustainability. They have rosy pictures of all the good things a company is doing. Browsing our past reports, we’re guilty of this too. This year, we hope our report better reflects exactly where we are on the sustainability path, warts and all.

We want to express to the reader that we are not gliding along the rails, we are slogging through the mud, struggling with difficult problems that have complex answers.”

As an avid snowboarder who does regular visits to the Okanagan to ride our clients’ mountains, Big White and Silver Star, I think it’s great to see more of an environmental movement around the resort industry. Nobody would be hit harder if all those dramatic predictions were to come true. And further to that skiers and snowboarders are some of the most passionate, and proud people you could ever meet. Every time I go up a chairlift with a stranger they always rave about the views, the snow, the fresh air, etc. It’s practically a cult. It’s definitely a group that, given the right opportunity and platform, I could see rallying around a cause to protect what they love