Minimise prints
Design your communication in the spirit of ‘less is more’ – instead of a large number of promotional materials, focus on the quality and precise targeting. Consider which promotional materials must be printed – perhaps it is worth giving up printed invitations? As shown by various analyses carried out by cultural institutions, collective programme leaflets are usually not very popular among the audience, so it is worth replacing them with one poster detailing the programme displayed in front of the institution or inside the building. Programmes should be made available in pdf on your website. Use QR codes for redirecting to up-to-date content, e.g. the event’s programme. Make sure that your promotional activities are tailored not only to the nature of individual activities, but also to the needs of the target groups –  elderly visitors or the local community tend to resort to printed information, while those fluent in the digital environment will be happy with electronic forms of promotion.

> When promoting the ‘Race and Forest’ exhibition (2019) Biennale Warszawa decided to limit promotional materials to just one poster and one leaflet. The poster was temporarily displayed in various places, while the leaflet was passed from hand to hand. Both materials were also available online for downloading. Read more: Biennale Warszawa shows care for the environment in the communication for the exhibition ‘Race and Forest’.

If you can’t avoid printing, make it eco-friendly.
In recent years, the printing industry has made progress in reducing the carbon footprint of prints, both with regard to energy efficiency and production technology. A lot of companies offer ecological paper and environmentally-friendly printing ink. Make sure the ink is zero VOC, i.e. it has a low content of volatile organic compounds which pollute the environment by being emitted into the atmosphere. Avoid UV varnishing, foiling, laminating or glitter, because these materials reduce recyclability and increase carbon footprint. Remember that the delivery is also part of your order – pay attention to eco-friendly packaging of prints (paper, cardboard, followed by polyolefin film) and order locally. Look for printing companies with environmental certifications (e.g. ISO 14001 or EMAS) and ask about CO₂ emissions compensation if the print run is large.

Design ecology: prints
When designing, consider a smaller print format and/or print volume to reduce not only costs but also environmental impact. Minimise ink coverage, e.g. by using thinner typefaces or fonts and limiting backgrounds covered entirely in colour (large solid areas are more difficult to recycle). Design with longer material life in mind – create universal templates to which information can be added manually or digitally (e.g. a poster with replaceable space for the title and dates). Avoid elements that are difficult to separate, such as metal staples, glued spines or mixed materials (paper + plastic). If they must be used, design them so that they can be easily separated.

> Using thinner fonts and a simple shape of letters, such as Ryman Eco, Ecofont, Garamond, Century Gothic, Calibri Light or Times New Roman, makes it possible to save up to 30 percent of ink. Read more: Print for the Planet: The Best Eco Fonts, source: Leap.

Print and digital media 
The choice between print and digital is more complex than the simple principle: give up paper, go online. Everything depends on the scale, product’s life cycle and the resources used. Digital promotion comes with hidden, often underestimated, environmental costs associated with energy consumption, infrastructure and e-waste. Sending one email or publishing a single post leaves a small footprint, but sending mass newsletters or streaming generates significant environmental costs. The most balanced approach is one that combines analogue and digital tools, tailors them to the specific audience, and is based on conscious resource management. For short-term mass communication, digital media (website, social media) are a better choice, while for content that will be used for many years (catalogue, book), a good solution is eco-friendly printing in small quantities, and for the promotion of a one-off event with a rich programme, a hybrid version may be most effective, e.g. a printed poster with a QR code linking to a more detailed version of the programme.


> Read more: Comparing the Environmental Impact of Electronic Communications and Print Media, source: LinkedIn.

> Redefining Sustainable Print Marketing, source: DMA.

> Print or Digital: It All Has Environmental Impact, source: Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. 

Sustainable design: digital environment

Eco-friendly design in the digital environment is not just about aesthetics – it is also about responsibility for energy consumption and emissions from data centres, as well as the impact on digital fatigue among users.

Although a single e-mail may seem harmless, sending thousands of messages with elaborate graphic footers every day can have a real impact on the environment – one message generates an average of 4 g of CO₂, and with graphics, up to 50 g. Avoid logos, banners and image captions in your email footer. If graphics are necessary, make sure they are optimised (e.g. low resolution, WebP format) and replace long legal clauses with a link.

A quarter of an hour spent browsing the internet causes CO₂ emissions similar to those generated by driving one kilometre by car. That is why it is important for your organisation’s website to be lightweight, functional and intuitive. An important element is optimising file sizes. Large photos and videos put a heavy load on the website, so limit their number and size and use compression formats (WebP for photos, H.265 for videos). Avoid automatically playing videos and animations. Fonts matter too – use those that are already on devices (so-called system fonts) or lighter formats (e.g. Web Open Font Format 2). It is worth considering simplifying the website code – the less code, the less data to transfer. Also, limit the number of scripts (e.g. advertising or tracking scripts), use solutions that speed up the website and reduce its ‘weight’, such as cache, lightweight versions of pages (AMP), offline applications (PWA) or static pages.

The website should be responsive, i.e. designed to load efficiently on mobile phones and tablets as well, which saves energy. Instead of seasonal pages, use modular content which can be easily edited. Good SEO (improving your website’s visibility to search engines) and well thought out UX (clear content and easy navigation) will not only improve user experience, but also reduce energy consumption. Also, remember to choose servers powered by green energy (green hosting).

> Check your website’s carbon footprint and receive recommendations for eco-friendly improvements: Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder.

> Check whether your website has green hosting, if so, download a badge to publish on your website: Green Web Foundation.

> Learn more about the carbon footprint of the internet, including social media and VOD platforms: What is the digital carbon footprint?, source: Plan Be Eco, How Does Your Social Media Use Impact the Planet?, source: Global Citizen.

> Apply sustainable web design principles. Principles in a nutshell: 20 Ways to Make Your Website Energy Efficient, Detailed principles: Sustainable Web Design. 

Outdoor advertising
Avoid overproduction – limit the number of banners, billboards and posters to the bare minimum, and if they are necessary, make them from recycled or easily recyclable materials. Avoid traditional PVC banners, as they are difficult to recycle and often contain toxic substances. Textile banners (e.g. made from recycled PET) or mesh banners are a better choice – they are lighter, more durable and reusable. When printing posters, choose natural, less processed materials such as kraft paper or paper with hemp admixture – they are biodegradable and are produced with less water and lower energy consumption. Eco-posters with dry-erase surfaces, blackboard foils or replaceable inserts are also a good solution – they allow you to update the content without reprinting.
Instead of solvent print opt for more environmentally-friendly technologies, such as latex, UV or eco-solvent print. As far as digital advertising displays are concerned, pay attention to energy efficient technologies, such as LEDs, photovoltaics and the option to automatically switch off screens at night. Cooperate with providers who use eco-friendly materials and are committed to reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.
An alternative to traditional media could be anti-smog murals, graffiti made of moss or sand, or the ‘clean graffiti’ technique (creating an image by removing dirt from the surface of a pavement or wall), as well as advertisements that disappear when exposed to rain or snow – they are effective and less harmful to the environment. 

> A mural eco-path covering five buildings was created at Toruń’s ‘Na Skarpie’ housing estate as part of a participatory budget project. Read more: Ecology straight from a wall, source: Toronto

> Read about anti-smog murals: How murals and concrete devour smog, source: Magazyn Ciepła Systemowego.

> Also read about: Environmental trends in outdoor advertising. Impact of ESG on the OOH market, source: Społecznie Odpowiedzialni Info.

Gadgets
Reduce the number of promotional gadgets to a minimum – procure them only when they are really necessary or they emphasise the institution’s brand and express values such as caring for the environment, supporting local artists or giving objects a second lease on life. Choose quality over quantity, avoid disposable products and opt for practical items, e.g. plants, reusable bottles or bags, notebooks from recycled materials or local produce. If packaging is required – make sure it is made of eco-materials and reduce it to a minimum. Use old posters, banners or stage fabrics to create new products, adding information about their origin – e.g. ‘This bag was made from banners from the “X” exhibition’. Such a signature gives them emotional and educational value. Instead of material things, offer an experience, e.g. access to unique materials, the opportunity to visit an exhibition, etc.

> Read about a sustainable approach to museum gift shop items: Can Museum Shops Go Plastic-Free? Inside Manchester Museum’s Eco Revolution, source: Museum Next.

> Creating new things out of old promotional materials is a well-known trend: Eco-friendly poster-bags. Art and recycling go hand in hand source: Kujawsko-Pomorskie. Travel

> Establish cooperation with organisations which specialise in creative upcycling and recycling: Fundacja GraTy: New life of old banners, source: NGO.pl.

Notice the potential of local resources
Use local media (e.g. a local radio station, newspapers, internet portals) to promote your events. A lot of communication and promotional channels are really at your fingertips – institutions, schools, cafes, housing cooperatives. It is worth displaying your printed posters there (hanging posters in residential buildings only with the building administrators’ agreement). Find out about online community groups – some of them are very active. Seek support from local ambassadors. Invite neighbours to co-create events. In exchange, share information about their initiatives on your channels.

Plain language

Avoid content overload – opt for clear, understandable communication. Plain language is more inclusive, it increases accessibility of your message and makes it easier to find your way around a website. Try to write in a concise manner and to the point, avoid complicated terminology and passive voice. Sometimes, however, using plain language is not so easy to achieve. Several free online tools that help to verify the simplicity of texts come to the rescue. The criteria used by these platforms include sentence length, number of words and level of expertise.

> Jasnopis – after pasting the text in the app window and clicking ‘analyse’, the system will notify how difficult your text is on a scale from one to seven. The app suggests a simplified version of your text. The website also features a guide: Simple language – standardised rules,

> Logios – uses an original plain language index PLI. It shows, in percentage, to what extent the text complies with plain language principles. It evaluates 10 style features which can be easily improved.

> One of the tools for evaluating readability of a text is the FOG index (1-22+), which measures the so-called text ‘fogginess’. Texts written in plain language receive a score of 9-10 FOG. They are easy to understand by those with secondary school education, which is a standard recommended for public communication.

Communicate your pro-environmental activities
It is worth talking about pro-environmental changes as soon as you start making them. Green initiatives that no one knows about have no chance to ‘bud’. Communicating even small steps is important. Consider starting a micro-campaign in social media: create short posts and stories with photos reporting on the changes you have implemented, e.g. a new bike rack, giving up plastic bottles, introducing double sided print. Get other employees involved in the campaign. Include information ‘Printed on recycled paper’, ‘This website uses green hosting’, etc. You can add icons to posters that show that the event is, for example, plastic-free, accessible by bicycle, or offers vegan catering. Instead of just informing, engage: ‘You can bring your own cup,’ ‘Tell us what we can improve.’ Also take care of internal communication – green changes concern the entire team and they require common effort.

> Nowy Teatr in Warsaw places the message ‘Do you know how much an e-mail weighs…?’ in the graphic footer of the e-mail, informing the recipient that it deliberately does not use graphic attachments due to their impact on the environment.

> When communicating their plans for the environment, an art organisation TEAM writes: ‘It’s a huge undertaking. We’re not perfect. But we’re trying. […] If you think you can help us be more environmentally responsible, we’d love to hear from you.’  See more: Environmental Sustainability, source: TEAM