sustainable clubbing (& advertising)
this must be the future: eco-friendly clubbing, where dancing power equals electricity. club4climate started in the netherlands, and have just had an eco-friendly party in london. i would love an eco-friendly dance floor here in copenhagen. visit dr. earth who operates under the motto: all you have to do is dance to save the world (and “partying not parasites”). further initiatives to make clubs self-sufficient, for example flushing toilets with rain-water and making energy out of sweat and urine (!?) are being worked on. for now; club owners (and the rest of us) could embrace just some simple eco-friendly starting points. read springwise’s coverage.
another eco-friendly business idea is to make money with reverse graffiti. again, clever dutchmen are first-movers (and even TM’ed the name GreenGraffiti) in proving that commercial messages can also be eco-friendly. although the case GreenGraffiti is showcasing at present is cleverly extending the notion of “outdoor advertising”, it is pretty lame… i have mixed emotions with this concept. in one way, i think all aspects of businesses should be as eco-friendly as possible, yet in another way, i think most of us would appreciate that public spaces remain free of commercial messages…
it is a safe assumption though that many a good business starts with arts!
tags:clubbing, eco friendly, graffiti, sustainability, working ideas
Stumble It!
July 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
More advertising bombarding us! We are in the business yet we too share your concerns.
We are very sensitive to the fact that we are now treading on one of the last places where advertising has yet to appear.
We would be the first to say that GreenGraffiti is not the perfect solution… yet but it certainly is an alternative and one of the only forms of advertising to come from our industry that provides a solution that has less impact on our environment.
As a socially responsible business, we are giving back to the local communities that GreenGraffiti uses as our canvas. Big bad advertising is here to stay and though we agree that is a bit overwhelming, this form of advertising is, in our opinion, a step in the right direction.
If you have any ideas as how we can improve our product or would like to contribute you thoughts, we welcome an open and honest discussion. We are advertisers but we are advertisers actively looking to make the world a better place. Idealistic? Absolutely but also authentic and dedicated.
Jim Bowes
Partner
GreenGraffiti
July 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Thank you very much for your gifted response, Jim. I salute you! I would actually love to see you succeed, and feel confident that you will or have already… i think the beauty of the concept of reverse graffiti is that if anyone is sufficiently bothered by the artwork or the ad, they can wash it away with water, and are in their good right to, as we all own the space (i don’t know if the municipality have a different opinion?)… and so the person whom it bothers as much as to actually take action wins the space… You can have a battle between parties that does not take away from the environment but instead proposes a water-based and peaceful display of opinions.
as for input to your business? i would like to clarify the reason for why i refer to the telfort ad as “pretty lame”… although carried out in a clever manner - showing the logo/line on the poster so that there is no doubt in people’s mind, that this is commercial - i would downplay the ad aspect. move the ad closer to works of art. combine something that is nicer to look at than the dirt that used to be behind it (closer to your smart car ad example). it makes the “consumer” appreciate the brand even more if the brand gives back with some eye candy, or by drawing attention to the fact that the place was dirty. the telfort logo just looks like plain school boy graffiti - nothing that contributes value to one’s perception of the surroundings. i think you could also extend the concept a little bit - and play a bit more on the “nature material” aspect - by making sand sculptures on the beach during summer, and ice sculptures on city squares when frost temperatures kick in…
I am considering to open up a danish branch of GreenGraffiti… we certainly have the perfect canvas for it here in copenhagen. not to mention the first mover’s advantage…