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The many routes to sustainability

The versatility and weakness of sustainability is that it means different things to people and attracts different motivations. It can be a source of business innovation, a marketing ploy, an aesthetic ideal, a response to better information, a new economic paradigm or a sociocultural aspiration.

For Graphik Dimensions Ltd., a High Point printing and frame supply company, sustainability is an opportunity to do what they do better. The 44-year-old company has stepped up efforts over recent years to reduce its waste stream, offer eco-friendly products and support worthy charities. A few months ago the company started offering warehouse sales to service the local artist/photography industry and cut back on waste.

"We're always looking for ways to not have stuff going into the landfill," said Robyn Feinsod, manager of marketing and merchandising for the company. "We're all about reduce, reuse, recycle."

Last week the company launched two eco-friendly picture frame collections made from bamboo, organic water-based stains, and matboard incorporating recycled content.  As part of the launch, the company ran a special (ending today) that provides 10 percent off to customers and donates 5 percent of the sales to American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program. Find a fulll list of the company's efforts here.

Feinsod acknowledged that one of the challenges of a business going green is defining what a green or sustainable product is.

"How you define an eco-friendly frame product, depending on your perspective, comes in a hundred shades of gray," she said.

For example, some customers prefer metal frames because the material can be recycled; while others steer clear of mined and/or non-renewable resources, she said. Some people prefer the quick-growing bamboo grass even though it's an invasive plant in the U.S. and is often imported from overseas. Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) has been criticized for years for containing formaldehyde, even though the product reuses wood production waste.

"In a million ways MDF is super green and good for the environment," Feinsod said.

This challenge ultimately makes sustainability a process, an education, a never-ending series of questions without firm and final answers; this can give the whole objective a sense of "running in place."  It's up to both business owners and consumers to ask questions about what they sell and buy and then make decisions based on their personal hierarchy of values. For example, a large family with tight finances might choose to use non-toxic homemade cleaning supplies. Someone else buys more effective supplies from the store even though it generates more waste. All choices come with advantages and tradeoffs.

What do you prioritize when buying products? Do you ever feel comfortable that what you buy (the reality) meets the ideal of living sustainably?