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The Green 15: Benchmarking Environmental Progress

As a DMA member, your organization must adhere to our Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice. As part of our ongoing commitment to corporate responsibility, DMA also is beginning to incorporate environmental commitments into our membership requirements. These commitments apply worldwide.

In May 2007, DMA’s Board of Directors enacted a resolution calling upon members to implement and benchmark a set of 15 baseline business practices – our “Green 15” – that are well understood to deliver environmental benefits, with sensitivity toward an organization’s bottom line.

In June 2008, the DMA Board will establish target goals publicly for marketers in key areas addressed in the resolution and set timetables for measuring success.

We ask your organization now to establish internal measurements to benchmark your progress on the Green 15. This will help us to establish realistic goals for measuring future industry progress overall, and will help you to get a better sense of how your organization is addressing key environmental concerns.

By June 2008, you should be able to create benchmarks to measure how your organization is currently performing on these concerns, specific to the direct marketing discipline:

Paper Procurement & Use

Paper is both a renewable resource and an important part of the direct marketing process. Making environmentally conscious paper choices can contribute greatly toward reducing your overall environmental footprint.

Your green 15 requirements:

1. Encourage your paper suppliers to increase wood purchases from recognized forest certification programs.

2. Require your paper suppliers to commit to implementing sustainable forestry practices that protect forest ecosystems and biodiversity as well as provide the wood and paper products that meet industry needs.

3. Ask your paper suppliers where your paper comes from before buying it with the intent of not sourcing paper from unsustainable or illegally managed forests.

4. Require your paper suppliers to document that they do not produce or sell paper from illegally harvested or stolen wood.

5. Evaluate the paper you use for marketing pieces, product packaging and internal consumption to identify opportunities for increased environmental attributes.

List Hygiene & Data Management

A “clean” list means less returned or undeliverable mail, less wasted paper, and a higher response rate – a win for the environment and for your bottom line.

Your Green 15 requirements:
6. Comply with DMA Guidelines for list management, including:

Maintaining in-house do-not-market lists for prospects and customers who do not wish to receive future solicitations from you.

Using the Mail Preference Service (MPS) monthly for consumer prospect mail.

Providing existing and prospective customers with notice of an opportunity to modify or eliminate direct mail solicitations from your organization in every commercial solicitation.

7. Maintain “clean” mailing lists by using USPS or commercial equivalent files where applicable for: ZIP Code correction; address standardization; change of address, address element correction, delivery sequence file and/or address correction requested

8. Apply predictive models and/or Recency-Frequency-Monetary (RFM) segmentation where appropriate

Mail Design & Production

It’s not just the paper and other materials you use, it’s how you use them. Simple changes to your mail pieces can make them more environmental friendly – and often more cost efficient as well.

Your Green 15 requirements:

9. Review your direct mail and printed marketing pieces, and test downsized pieces when and where appropriate.

10. Test and use production methods that reduce print order overruns, waste allowances and in-process waste.

Packaging

No matter what marketing channels your organization uses for direct sales, how you package and ship customer orders and other fulfillment commitments is an important environmental consideration.

Your Green 15 requirement:
11. Encourage packaging suppliers to submit alternate solutions for environmentally preferable packaging, in addition to quoting prices on approved or existing specifications.

Recycling & Pollution Reduction

Not just in your organization’s marketing operations, but throughout your office, there are steps you can take to reduce your organization’s environmental footprint, and encourage your customers to do the same.

Your Green 15 requirements:

12. Purchase office papers, packing and packaging materials made from recycled materials with post-consumer content where appropriate.

13. Integrate use of electronic communications (email, Web and intranets) for external and internal communications.

14. Ensure that all environmental labeling is clear, honest and complete, so that consumers and business customers may know the exact nature of what your organization is doing.

15. Participate in DMA’s “Recycle Please” campaign and/or in another recycling campaign and/or demonstrate that your company or organization has in place a program to encourage recycling in your workplace and/or your community.

The Guidelines above are from the DMA website...go to www.the-dma.org for more information.

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