Seamless & Down to Earth - The New Trend In Sustainable Storytelling is Innovation of Superior Products... and Not About Green

Move over Greta Thunberg, the real - and very much needed - change will come from the answer to this question: Who will become the next Apple in the sustainable field? And the irony is that it's not about green. Innovation is back as the key word. The whole trick will be to make it super practical, so I call this burgeoning trend Seamless & Down to Earth. Right now, with still a way-too-small group of people living sustainably, the real green revolution will not come from convincing or pressuring people to go green. It will come from superior products. Today, we're gonna put our feet in the clay.

In many ways, the Green Movement now is the IBM of the ‘80’s… frontrunners once, but ripe to be overthrown by the Apple Computers of this green age. In this article I will make that case based on three main arguments that - fair warning - will at times be harsh and brutal. The reason why I've sharpened my pen so, is that time is no longer on our side when it comes to the environment. I think it's necessary to be much more critical to the green movements, and come up with something better. In fact, I feel, some entrepreneurs already have. And my first argument will start with something deeply personal. Here goes nothing...

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1 - The Green Movement is Hampering Green Progress

Every time I’m in my greenest and most sustainable neighborhood supermarket I get so highly annoyed, I'm turned off for weeks after. Here I am, walking around the isles with expensive, biological products, doing the right thing, but there is no one willing to help, no one even saying hello, and always, without fail, no one at the cash register. And when they do arrive, they sit there with a face that says ‘thunder’ and go through my groceries with a tempo that would make even the average slug cringe.

I'm not kidding, nor am I exaggerating. It's a pattern of mine now: I go there in the hopes that things have changed, and that the penny has dropped: I - their customer paying their bills - am an actual human being who would like to be treated with a little less dédain. Then, I realize that they still don't get it. And I get so bummed out I switch back to a less sustainable - let's call it 'light' green - alternative. And then, after a time, I try out the dark green one again... and the cycle repeats itself.

That, in summary, is everything I feel that is wrong with the green movement. It can be so blatantly arrogant , so mindbogglingly haughty one can wonder why even try. Of course, I’m not saying every brand is like that. Plenty of great ones out there. Plenty of great friends too around me that are dark-green, yet do not act that way. But the arrogance in this corner is real. And it is one of the biggest problems in getting the green message out there.

It's just such bad storytelling .

Not that I don't understand the attitude. Many people of the darker green persuasion are fed up with having to explain the existential threat Global Warming poses. They feel they are talking to mindless zombies, hell bend on destroying themselves. Actually, I share those feelings. It sometimes seems baffling to me that still so many enough of us refuse to choose for actual survival. Zombies, indeed.

Yet, in storytelling, nobody likes the wiseguy. Even when the wiseguy is plainly right. It's human nature, plain and simple, and cannot be helped nor overcome. And this looking-down-on-others-attitude is sometimes so absolutely staggering, it borders on the hateful. Well, I say 'borders'... but I think I can scrap that word. It is hateful. Full-on hatred. My universal creative energy has picked up that energy multiple times. And never fails to pick it up in that supermarket.

But even when it's not hateful, and comes from a place of love, it just so often doesn't cut the mustard. Yesterday I wanted to watch a great new documentary on worldwide tribal initiatives. I pay... no link. Fifteen bucks down the drain. Or how many times now have I read this long-winded prose on how someone has found the light and is inviting us to share it all at some event... forgetting to put the date, time and place in their 1500 worded poem on Instagram.

And then consider the alternative: so many products and services that are not (that) sustainable are just incredibly well put together. We encounter those every single day, everywhere, for our entire lives. They save time, energy, money. They are friendly and treat me with respect. Yet when I try to connect to the average product, service or brand that is truly sustainable, that is real dark green… it’s almost as if I’m being punished for it. You get this energy hurled towards you that basically says: “Even though you are buying this, that doesn't mean you are actually worthy ." Or when it's less hateful: "The universe will work it out, you are always at the right place at the right time, remember?" ...while I'm waiting in some woods somewhere because they were too lazy to provide me with an actual, tangible address or description.

And that's a huge, huge problem. Why? Because the holistic should know better: the energy you give out, is the energy you receive.

And the energy I receive from so many other brands, services and products that are not green, actually makes a profoundly bigger effort to connect with me. On a holistic level, a level of connecting and showing empathy with another human being, they are not far behind and in many cases, even ahead.

2 - The Path of Protest and Resistance Has Reached it's limit.

Am I going too far? Maybe... Truthfully, there is a nuance here, at least on an emotional level. I'm in awe of Greta Thunberg and similar protestors. And I agree with them, at least when they keep the protests about the environment (lose the politics will ya?). I agree and understand Extinction Rebellion too. I kinda like them honestly, on that real heart level. They really put the hurt on those who need their karma checked. And I'm totally on board with exposing the absolute pure evil that is prevalent in the boardrooms of oil and gas companies. In fact, I have seen, heard and tasted that evil in the flesh, literally, within similar boardrooms.

I should be their prime target group. Yet, I'm clearly not. Because anyone who knows the streets knows you gotta keep it real. When all is said and done, the path of protest can only bring us so far. For one - and this going to come in as a harsh reality check to those protesters - it is not working fast enough. I get why you need to vent the anger on the streets, and why you want the awareness going, but is it speeding things up? Arguably the answer is no.

The looking-down combined with the disruptiveness of the protests, just isn't winning enough hearts fast enough. In fact, to me, that combination is increasingly coming across as desperate, which might put more people off that it gains. To keep it real: We need to truly change environmental behavior on an absolutely massive scale to save us from this looming world crisis. And this path - however emotionally satisfying it may be to disrupt and look down on others - is not giving us that.

The question then becomes... what will work?

3 - The Political Path is Also Just Not Fast Enough

Will political action get us there? Oh God... where to begin to describe this one? All right, my pen is going to use broad strokes here, and I promise I'm going to built to my point. The answer boils down to this:

No. Because we're spoiled.

Innovation in the past decades has given us numerous new goods, services, products and advances in things like customer journeys. It has also made it possible for many to live in relative wealth and health, and travel the world both virtually and physically seeking out new experiences in this life we have. Of course - and this is a harsh truth as well - in order to reduce the environmental impact of this great, worldwide bohemian lifestyle that our population boom has spread across the globe, we should start to consume a lot less then we are doing right now.

But be honest: are you? Are you truly consuming less?

Sure, a nice percentage of us have stopped flying, or has adopted all kinds of sharing practices, and healthier, more biological lifestyles. A number of us are succeeding in reducing their footprint or even make a positive impact. We need them. We want them to teach us and spread the fire. Show us how it's done. And we are seeing great new ideas and brands pop up, such as my favorite 'Re-Greening' concept that aims to 'Cool Down The Planet' from Justdiggit .

But is it enough? I'll rephrase... Will it work fast enough?

The answer is no. And - another harsh one coming... - it will never be.

That doesn't mean we should stop doing it of course. Every little bit helps. Yet the reality is that once people are so used to the pleasures and the perks of a postmodern lifestyle where everything is available to them, they will never give it up. Sure, some will... but these darker green ones will get increasingly angry and agitated with the rest of humanity not being able to shake off their new-found luxuries. So frustrated in fact, they will start to protest alongside Greta and greet you with a hautain smirk when you deem yourself worthy enough to enter their grocery store.

And being back in that grocery store, also brings me to my point of innovation. That word, innovation, has gotten us in trouble. But it might just also get us out of it.

4 - Fantastic, unrelenting and impeccable innovation is the key to green

Just think of it, when I go to any other supermarket around, the innovations, both technical, in service, and in customer care, have let to this situation: you get treated greatly, the system in the supermarket works better, everything is quicker, there are more products to choose from, people greet you, the cash-register is fast...

Now just image that you and I had the same kind of perks when interacting with a dark green brand. I for one would switch in a heartbeat and never look back.

In fact - and this is my main point - I don't have to be environmentally friendly, or even mildly sustainable in real life, to still choose that brand. Why?

It's. Just. Better.

Just think of the green darling Patagonia. Sure, the environmental part is a huge, huge part of the emotional brand appeal. Yet, their products are tested in the harshest environments on Earth, by those leading scientific polar exhibitions, or fire-watchers spending months on end in cold forests, or divers needing the best gear when they come up out of the coldest of waters or... are you seeing it? Is the penny dropping? Patagonia makes impeccable clothing. Let me spell it out for ya:

Their products are superior.

Yes. From sustainable fabrics, yes. Sure. And yes yes yes. The value chain and distribution is net zero, or even footprint positive. Sure, sure, sure... But are you thinking about sustainability when it's 20 degrees below zero and you're plowing through some snowstorm somewhere on some inhospitable mountain? Of course not. The only thing you're thinking is: this jacket sure keeps me warm.

You're seeing my point right? And I've got a real kicker for you to drive home my point about product innovation being the best possible path to a cooler planet.

A New Kind of Entrepreneur

As a writer, I work on my own stories and publications , I service some in the art and cultural world, and I have a few select clients in the business world I help with their storytelling. One of them is a scale-up in the electricity corner. What they do helps the environment greatly. They are young entrepreneurs, early twenties and they have that incredible spirit reminiscent of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, back in the beginning days of what is now the biggest company in the world, Apple Computers.

So, we've been writing articles together on what kind of stuff goes on in the cutting edge of sustainable innovation. And here I was, crafting this 1500 worded article, and we were reviewing it, and this young founder tells me: "I love it man. It's perfect. Except for one word in the article. Could you scrap the word sustainable on page 2? Then we're good to go."

I was baffled. In those 1500 words... no mention of sustainable, green... not even once. Nothing.

These boys have an attitude that says: our products, apps and services need to be absolutely perfect in their use. Their feet are in the clay. They feel users need to have seamless experiences, just as they do with the greatest products we have right now in the world. The fact that we make it sustainable, in the background, is irrelevant to the user. It's a by product. The user must have a perfect experience. That's the focus.

It all reminds me how Apple Computers, a small and insignificant player in the computer world dominated by IBM, decided to just make a superior product in every which way possible with the AppleII. Vastly better design, so that the computer could finally look good on the desktop. Much, much smoother navigation with windows, mouse and digital desktop design. And inventing all of this software to produce photography, video, audio and music, that was never before seen in the creative world. Ultimately it led to a world where Apple became the frontrunner in phones and tablets as well, aside from numerous other hardware and software innovations, big and small, that they have produced over the decades.

They became the greatest by making something superior in the hottest market of their time. And so now, we are seeing the first signs of young entrepreneurs who are doing the same: making something superior in the hottest market of this time. And that hottest market just happens to be sustainability.

And to see these youngsters go at it, making all of this green stuff without even mentioning it, just by producing something superior...

... It's the equivalent of a hero in a movie walking away from an explosion without even so much as a look.

It's just so cool. So frosty. And so, so different than before. I am convinced that in a world that is running out of time, and does not have enough willingness to change quickly enough, the only way to truly make a dent is to have a few brilliant minds hand this whole sustainability-thing to us on a silver platter, by presenting a superior product, that even when we are not green-leaning, we still want to use.

That's how you create mass.

The New Sustainable Story: Green Is Not Required To Go Green

In summary, I', arguing that price-quality in sustainability is often not great. The products and services in this corner are too often not up to par with the rest. In my view it's an attitude problem: "We are morally superior, so our products should not have to be superior." And it reminds me of the arrogance that IBM had at the time - which fortunately, they have shaken off again these days - when Apple came in and swooped them and everybody else up and over.

That, in a nutshell, is what I think is missing in the green movement right now: good, old-fashioned innovation. Of the bigger breakthrough kind. Coupled with the understanding that we are all human, and that we need to be helped and persuaded by seamlessness sometimes, to get this situation to cool down again. Sure, I know, it's not pretty. And it emphasizes our many, many failings in accepting environmental truths. But it also shows our human greatness, our ingenuity in overcoming our difficulties in a moment where mass extinction threatens us all.

And yes, of course, it goes without saying, Greta should keep her protests going. And yes, of course, I should, every few weeks or so, keep checking if that green grocery store finally had a penny-drop. But the biggest reform will come from that gaping gap in the market that will, when filled by young entrepreneurs, be the true key to a truly sustainable and healthy world: fan-tas-tic products.

Only then will we build a sustainable, green and healthy world for all. One where more brands than Patagonia alone, will be buying up those entire forests.

Love, as always.

Rogier van Kralingen

And check out my book The Whole Story - The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling !

(This story was also published on my regular blog here: https://tinyurl.com/SustainableStorytelling )