Sensis walks the sustainability talk
Jess | 6 July 2010
“If you’re going to communicate sustainability you can’t just talk about it, you have to do it. If you do, people will talk about you.” That’s how Ben Peacock from Republic of Everyone summed up what people, business and government need to do in relation to sustainability at the recent National Green Brands Forum in Melbourne.
At Sensis we have been “doing” for some time and there’s a good summary of our sustainability commitments and achievements on our website if you’re keen to take a look.
Sensis’ Group Manager Brand and Marketing Communications Geraldine Davys presented a case study on our recent carbon neutrality announcement for our Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories.
The carbon neutrality announcement, which involves offsetting the carbon emissions of the directories through accredited providers and projects in Australia, was a big milestone for us. In fact, Sensis is the first major directory company in the world to have had its print and online directories certified carbon neutral.
Following this, Geraldine spoke about sustainability and why it is part of our brand architecture.
Using the examples of the Cupid and Hidden Pizza campaigns, Geraldine explained how they were produced with sustainability in mind.
For instance, with our Yellow Pages® Cupid television commercial, during the shoot we were very conscious of water wastage so we used recycled water for every take an included a ‘recycled water’ sign on the set being mindful of the water restrictions in Melbourne at the time.
With the Yellow Pages® Hidden Pizza restaurant campaign, almost everything inside the restaurant was made of recycled materials from the lights, to the pizza boxes to the rubbish bins. All produce was sourced from local businesses and after the restaurant closed all leftover items were donated to local charities.
At Sensis, we don’t just talk about sustainability, we do it.
They may sound like little things, but I get really excited by them. It shows that ‘sustainability’ is filtering its way through our business and is no longer something driven by the sustainability team and our green office champions alone. People in our business don’t make decisions based solely on quality and cost; we also look at the environmental and social impact as well.
