Tending the greenery

Earlier today I attended the official launch of a new standard for the environmental performance of direct marketing.

There is some very good news here. There will be a proper BSI kitemark which can be included on qualifying material to demonstrate to consumers that something is being done. There are assessment tools, progressive levels of qualification, and a system that's got the independent credibility of the British Standards Institute. And it ties in with the Royal Mail's launch of Sustainable Mail (although this hasn't actually been approved by Postcomm yet) where there's actually a price advantage for doing the right thing.

One of the tools - see the greendm site here - might cause a ripple for companies who have spent considerable time and effort developing their own bespoke tools to calculate environmental effects of marketing campaigns.

Next step is to see how this works out in reality. A couple of financial services clients are lined up to run pilot projects very soon, and doubtless there will be lessons to learn.

The bit I don't understand, is why the DMA is not making compliance a mandatory requirement for membership. DEFRA (who were part of the launch) made it clear again that it would intervene if the industry did not take sufficient voluntary action to meet its targets for waste prevention and reduction. Yet the DMA people talked about the 'competitive advantage' which would accrue to businesses who followed the new standard, and that compliance was voluntary.

There's a disconnect here. Surely if this initiative is the DMA's best shot at satisfying DEFRA, then they should enforce it across their membership? If only a few companies go for this 'competitive advantage', then we don't meet our targets, and DEFRA will have to step in. DEFRA is unlikely to work with the DMA the second time around.

Once I've had a chance to read the technical details about the scheme (there were about six printed copies available this morning, and I was at the back of the room ...) I will post again.