True-Blue Greens

Understanding the Problem

One way of analyzing concern for the environment is to rank Canadians on a “green scale” such as the one which follows. Most Canadians are either True-Blue Greens or Sprouts. Very few Canadians (5%) are Greenback Greens.

Classroom Development

Divide the following major issues among groups of equal size. Direct each group to investigate a different area and report to the class.
As a cooperative learning strategy, and to help students define their own position on environmental issues, members of each group role-play each of the five categories on the green scale in a class discussion on one of the following issues:

• User-pay fees for garbage removal;
  
• Attitudes towards environmental protection;
  
• Bottling beer and energy consumption;
  
• Waste audits in the fast food industry.

Green Scale

Issue: User-Pay Fees for Garbage Removal

As landfill sites fill up and residents resist the creation of new landfills in their area, some cities in Canada and the United States are beginning to charge households and businesses a fee for the collection of their household garbage. The fee varies with the amount of garbage put out for collection. In some places, residents must buy special twist ties from the city to attach to each bag, otherwise, the garbage bag will not be picked up. In other jurisdictions, residents must buy a garbage can provided by the city. Only the contents of the can will be picked up; all other waste must either be recycled or composted.

Questions

1. Brainstorm the positive and negative impacts if your municipality started such a program .
   
2. Appoint a class representative to contact the City Clerk’s department of the community in which you live. Determine the process your elected representatives would follow if they were to start a user-pay garbage collection programme.
   
3. Assume the municipal council decided to start a similar program. Brainstorm new business opportunities that would develop as a result of the need to reduce waste generated by businesses and households.
   
4. Pick one of the business ideas you generated. As a class, in groups, or individually, develop a business plan to make the new business a reality.

Issue: Attitudes Towards the Environment

S. C. Johnson (Raid, Edge Shave Gel) surveyed 2000 people from Mexico, the USA, and Canada to determine attitudes towards the environment. Opinions were determined using the Green Scale.

Questions

1. Why would the company conduct this survey in the USA and Mexico, as well as in Canada?
   
2. What parts of S. C. Johnson’s marketing mix in Canada would be affected by the information found in this survey?
   
3. Pick one part of the marketing mix and explain how it would be affected by the findings of this survey.

Issue: Brewing and Bottling Beer

You decide to form a new company to brew and bottle beer. You are considering which type of container to use. Production and energy costs, as well as environmental responsibility, are important parts of this decision. One of your competitors, Upper Canada Brewing, is advertised in the Globe & Mail as being environmentally responsible because its waste barley is used as animal feed. Another potential competitor is considering switching to the old fashioned stubby bottle again.

Before you make your decision, you review the information you have available:

1. Filling lines for cans are less labour intensive, which means production costs for cans are less than for bottles;
   
2. Aluminum is much more expensive than glass or steel;
   
3. New research shows that aluminum production emits a high level of greenhouse gases and is very energy intensive;
   
4. There is an environmental tax of 10 cents per can on beer cans in Ontario;
   
5. Energy costs are shown in the following table:

Energy Consumption per use for 12 oz. Beverage Containers

Source: Gaines, “Energy and Material Use.” In Brown, Lester R.. Saving the Planet: How To Shape An Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy. New York: Norton, 1991.

Questions

1. Divide the information above into three categories: very important, important, and unimportant, then explain your choices.
   
2. What additional and detailed information should you get before deciding which type of bottle to use?

Issue: Waste Audits in the Fast Food Industry

Visit a fast food restaurant. Audit the waste it generates. For example, does it use polystyrene or paper wrapping? disposable or washable tableware? squeeze bottles or single servings of ketchup and vinegar?

Ask the manager if you could get service if you brought your own dishes and cutlery. Ask the manager if there has been a waste audit to determine how much waste is generated by the restaurant. Ask about any waste reduction measures the company has undertaken in the past year.
Another option is to use the following information on waste at McDonald’s to brainstorm ideas for waste reduction. An average McDonald’s serves 2000 people and creates about 100 kg of waste each day:

Source:Waste audit of two restaurants”, reported in The Wall Street Journal, 1990.

Strategies for Change

Develop a school policy for the management of waste from the school lunchroom. Work with the school’s environmental club to help promote the 3Rs and this policy in your school. Devise a slogan and a promotional campaign using all the media in the school: PA announcements, bulletin board displays, flyers, signs, displays, electronic messages, ads in the school newspaper, letters to the editor of the school paper, or other issues.

Extension

Competition in the Marketplace

This activity investigates and illustrates methods of competition and retail attitudes towards environmental issues, by comparing two similar local businesses, and by studying methods of competition.

Classroom Development

1. Direct the class to form groups of 2 or 3.
   
2. Each group works independently to collect the required information, then prepares a report of its findings. Reporting could take a variety of formats:
   a) Traditional written report, (prepared on the computer)
   b) Bulletin board display
   c) Oral presentation emphasizing visual reports: graphs, samples, maps, etc.
   d) Videotape
   e) Interview
   f) Guest speaker

Instructions to Students

Select any two similar businesses from one of businesses listed below. Then, working in groups of two or three, investigate the methods of competition used by each.

• fast food restaurant
• large department store
  
• supermarket
• clothing
  
• convenience store
• shopping mall
  
• gas station
• banks
  
• sit-down restaurant
• pick your own
  
• pharmacy

Collect information on the two businesses you select based on the following headings:

1. Products or Services: Compare similar products sold. Also compare services the businesses provide for their customers: parking, delivery.... List the services and rate them on a scale for excellent, good, fair, poor, not available.
   
   
2. Sales Promotion Techniques: Compare the advertising methods that the stores use to attract customers (newspapers, flyers, TV or radio ads). List at least five techniques and how each store or business uses the technique.
   
   
3. Prices: Compare three key products or services that are carried by both businesses. Make sure that the products are similar in size or function.
   
   
4. Location: If applicable, identify the best three locations for both businesses. Write down the address and the location. Circle the one that is most successful.
   
   
5. Environmental Issues: List and describe at least three ways each business shows its sensitivity to environmental issues. This could be through waste reduction programs, the use of reused or recycled products, or through the sale of products or services that are less stressful on the environment.

Strategies for Change

With the rest of your classmates, develop a list of all the ways the businesses showed sensitivity to environmental issues. Each group should write a letter to a business in a similar industry and outline what competitive companies are doing for the environment. At the same time inquire about steps being taken in this particular company.

As a class, judge which business displayed the greatest awareness of environmental issues and recognize their contribution with a letter congratulating the company on its achievement. Note: make sure that you have not been fooled by superficial posturing on the part of these companies, but that the achievement is real and justifies your praise. Recognize the possibility that no company will be worthy.