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Made with Renewable Energy: How and Why Companies are Labeling Consumer Products

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Housekeeping

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Presenters

• Jenny Heeter, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

• Orrin Cook, Center for Resource Solutions• Laura Thompson, SAPPI Paper• Angelika Pullen, WindMade

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Background

• Presenting findings from NREL’s report, Made with Renewable Energy: How and Why Companies are Labeling Consumer Productso Authors: Deborah Baker-Brannan, Jenny Heeter,

and Lori Birdhttp://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/pdfs/53764.pdf

• Interviewed 20 companies involved with renewable energy product labeling

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Nearly 50 Companies Involved

• Scope varieso Single product (e.g. Ziploc

Evolve)o Product line (e.g. Cascades

Tissue Group’s North River Brand)

o All products (e.g. Intelligent Nutrients)

• Business-to-business and business-to-consumer

• Focus on products designed for the environmentally conscious consumer

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Communicating the Use of RE

• On-product messagingo Imagery and statementso Logos

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Motivations for Promoting Products as Made with RE

• Communicate to the consumer and enhance the image of the brando Chuck Bennett of Aveda stated that the intention

is “not to enhance sales specifically but rather to reinforce the overall environmental commitment of the brand.”

• Product differentiationo Important for business-to-consumer sector, but

some business-to-business labeling as well (e.g. Cascades Tissue Group)

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Motivations (continued)

• Targeting environmentally conscious consumerso Companies may already be targeting “green”

consumers• Following an existing industry trend

o Companies interviews stated they were trendsetters, not followers

• Price premiumo Products did not earn a price premium

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Challenges with Product Labeling and Claims

• Limited and competing uses of product real estateo Including too many competing messages can inundate

and confuse the consumer, potentially diluting the brand and affecting sales.

• Language and contento Imagery is an important component o Language can be difficult to keep up with (e.g. New

Belgium Brewing)• Consumer recognition and understanding

o Difficult to assess; some companies less concerned with consumer understanding

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Challenges (continued)

• Product packaging costso Relatively minor challenge; changes typically made in

conjunction with other product/packaging changes• Cost of certification and program requirements

o Minor challenge for most companies, though depends on how fees are structured

• Products marketed internationallyo Reduction in product real estate if text is in multiple

languages

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Jenny Heeter

National Renewable Energy Laboratory15013 Denver West Parkway, MS RSF031

Golden, CO 80401(303) 275-4366

http://greenpower.energy.gov