750 The Marketing Book
higher purchase price, but a lower overall
running cost for consumers. Buildings are also
built to a price, rather than built to deliver a
certain level of overall usage costs. A total cost
focus would result in buildings which were
more expensive to purchase, but which were
economical in the long term and which would
reduce a significant element of society’s envi-
ronmental impact. Also, better information
about the social and environmental costs
attached to products would give consumers
more complete information and more incentive
to change their behaviour. It is quite common
for consumers of veal, for example, to enjoy it
far less once they discover exactly how it is
produced.
Green logistics
The environmental impact of many products is
strongly determined by the fuel consumed and
materials used in transporting them to custom-
ers. The implementation of ‘carbon taxes’ on
fossil fuel consumption would have a sig-
nificant impact on the economics of distribu-
tion. This would encourage industries to
replace global production and distribution
chains with global networks of operations
producing and distributing on a more regional
or local scale.
Getting the optimal environmental per-
formance in distribution can be difficult.
Reducing package thickness, for example, can
reduce the resources consumed and the energy
used in distribution, but increase the level of in-
channel waste due to the reduced level of
protection for the product. Similarly, larger
trucks reduce the amount of fuel consumed per
product unit moved, but have a greater neg-
ative impact on roads and the communities
they pass through. The new requirements for
companies to take back products and discarded
packaging will also require a significant rede-
sign of distribution channels to handle the
‘reverse logistics’ involved in reusing contain-
ers, and reclaiming waste and end-of-life
products.
An example of logistics forming a key
component of a greening strategy comes from
B&Q, whose logistics function has been rewar-
ded with several major awards for environmen-
tal excellence. Their 1993 Environmental
Review included: The development of ‘centralized distribution’ at
B&Q, bringing environmental benefits such as
reduced vehicle movements and a reduction in
transit packaging.
The establishment of a policy and targets
aimed at reducing vehicle emission impacts.
The reduction of transit packaging in
conjunction with suppliers, aiming for a 30 per
cent reduction in the total corrugated board
used by UK suppliers within the first year.
A cost and benefit analysis undertaken into the
practicalities of store-based collection and
recycling systems for packaging materials.
Insistence that logistics subcontractors operate
an environmental policy consistent with B&Q’s
and commission their own comprehensive
environmental audit.
The promotion of environmental awareness
both within B&Q’s logistics department and its
subcontractors.Labelling
Labelling has been a particularly important
issue within green marketing, with relevance to
both promotion and logistics. As a promotional
device, green labels are often important to
provide customers with a simple and trustwor-
thy signal of a product’s social and environ-
mental credentials. There are long-standing
national labelling schemes such as the German
‘Blue Angel’ scheme which are extensively
trusted and used by consumers. There are also
more specific schemes which relate to partic-
ular industries or products (e.g. Rug-mark
carpets made without child labour), or to
particular methods of production (e.g. organic
certification from the Soil Association) or busi-
ness conduct (e.g. the Fair Trade mark). In
terms of logistics, labelling is important in