How frustrating (and pointless) it is to read case studies which only have partial information, even though that’s mainly what case studies and articles should be about. ‘The innovative product with low toxicity’ (what about carbon?), ‘the building with zero carbon’ (what about embodied carbon and how do they define zero carbon?), ‘the 100% recycled material’ (downcycled, post consumer or post industrial?).
Yes, unfortunately that’s what many marketers, communicators and journalists love these days. The news, the gimmick, a story. But quick wins in one area often have the wrong impact in other areas.
I am not in favour of rules but I think it should be standard in case studies, advertisements and articles to add a link to the full story: the whole life cycle impact of a product. In a way this has happened with car ads, where they have to disclose the CO2/km. One easy way of promoting full product transparency is to include a link to the environmental product declaration (EPD).
I am not suggesting that every ad, article or case study should have a link to the EPD of the product, however those ones that are talking about how green the products are should have to justify their claims. This approach may get rid of some of the Greenwash we have thrown at us these days too!
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Ramon,
I agree, up to a point. The examples you give are surely simply adverts and not case studies. I agree that most case studies are poor, what I try to do in creating them is to show and describe the problem or the area of under-performance and show how that is changed for the better. That might not need to address all issues under the sustainability umbrella.
Adverts however are designed to make a proposition that will engage the customer/consumer. Providing too much information can be distracting and not engage effectively. The problem here is that in the minds of marketeers the ‘glass is always half full’, so the disadvantages of a product are never made obvious to the audience.
Ben
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