gravitytank analyst and conference attendee Lucas Daniel says that, against his better linguistic judgment, there really is an "Eco 2.0" particularly in sustainability communications. In this conference wrap-up, he identifies three conceptual shifts that are shaking up the green marketing world.

As a designer who follows every wacky trend name, I would be the last person to endorse putting "2.0" on anything. But this past weeks Sustainable Brands '07 conference was truly the next evolution of companies innovating in sustainability, so I cant help it.

I also cant take credit for the "2.0" nomer. Jeff Renaud, director of ecomagination at GE, threw the term out there, and it seemed to sum up the pulse of the conversations throughout the two days for everyone listening. Sustainability is no longer about companies pursuing green initiatives, but about how to be green to the core; how to create a green culture, both internally for your company and externally for your customers.

Coming away, there seemed to be three major themes that are shifts, or at least better definitions of, innovating and branding in the sustainability space.

1. If green is the new black, transparency is the new green.

~Todd Woody, Fortune Magazine

Jackie Ottman, of J. Ottman Consulting, kicked off the conference by providing a 20-year history of lessons learned in sustainable branding (showing ads of P&Gs enviro pak, Heftys not-so degradable bags, and Wal-Marts shelf talkers). Her key lesson: you have to walk your talk. Customers can see through the green washing that occurs; they are going to the corporate Web sites and reading up on what the company is actually doing to back up their claims. Transparency is essential for building a sustainable brand.

And its tough for the large corporations trying to shift their businesses and adopt a more sustainable position. Three of the companies at the conference, Wal-Mart, BP and GE, are continually getting bad press for bad practices and its affecting their credibility. But they are pushing forward and encouraging change throughout.

Wal-Mart was a particularly controversial topic for the conference. Rand Waddoups, their senior director of corporate strategy and sustainability, embraced this polarizing perception of Wal-Mart wholeheartedly. At times he seemed too slick and corporate to be genuine, but the content of what he shared was authentic. Wal-Mart is walking tall and carrying a big stick in environmental stewardship. Theyre doing some pretty cool stuff that will benefit all of us at some point. To name just three: theyve made CFLs more affordable, required their suppliers to reduce their packaging, and introduced a Personal Sustainability Program (PSP) to their associates, encouraging them to live a healthier lifestyle.

As a particularly blatant example of transparency, Susan Space, director of brand and advertising at Sun Microsystems talked about their OpenEco program, where they are taking an open source approach to their sustainable efforts, and using it as a point of dialog between their customers and suppliers. Specifically, she called out the transparency they have about greening their data center products.

Seth Bauer, editorial director of National Geographics The Green Guide put it in memorable terms: be more Clark Kent and less Superman. As marketers and brand champions of sustainable innovation, we should be more like a reporter than showing off super powers. With sustainability, people want the facts, not the hype.

2. Its a journey and a conversation.

~Steve Bishop, Sustainability Domain Lead, IDEO

The above statement appeared as one of five lessons learned by Steve Bishop and his team at IDEO as their company integrates sustainability into their service offering. The idea of sustainability being a journey and not a destination was a big theme in many of the talks. One interesting set of numbers Steve shared was out of the 360 projects the company did in 2006, only 14 came in with sustainability consciously on the brief; 346 didnt. Its an important point for IDEO in that they are learning how to have the conversation, even when clients dont ask for it. For them, like for most other companies undertaking sustainability to the core, its an iterative process.

The Helios House, presented by BPs SVP of global brand marketing and innovation, Ann Hand, is another example of this learning journey. The project was born out of BPs push to extract as much value as they can from their shift to Beyond Petroleum and use of the Helios symbol. The little better campaign, which sought to make gas stations a better customer experience through little better improvements, spawned the idea to create a sustainable gas station flagship in Los Angeles. The gas station is not only an important customer touchpoint and beacon to communicate their commitment to sustainability, but also a living lab that they can test out ideas for their little better campaign.

The takeaway from this idea is inspiring. Sustainable is not something you either are or arent. Have the vision, set audacious goals, challenge your colleagues, and see it as a never ending cycle of wins and losses, all directing you to being a better corporate citizen through what you learn along the way.

3. We are all assemblers of products and services.

~Paul Murray, director of environmental affairs, Herman Miller

That sustainability has to be integrated into every part of the company was another theme that rang out across presentations. Its cant just be a department. Paul Murrays quote above puts the responsibility on everyone. Herman Millers Environmental Quality Action Team (EQAT) is made up of 450 people from all over the company and has focused every aspect of the company on their sustainable goals. It has taken them from generating 41M lbs. of waste to now only 5M lbs. It has made Design for Environment (DfE) a core process to everything they produce, starting with the Mirra chair. It has helped create LEED certified work facilities. The amazing news about EQAT: its only 10 paid employees; the rest are volunteers within the company.

GE is also pushing sustainability throughout their company. Ecomagination, steered by director Jeff Renaud sits outside of GEs product divisions, but is quickly being fused with all of them. Their portfolio of ecomagination products has grown from 18 to more than 45 in categories crossing their business, from appliances to transportation to finance, as well as creating new business opportunities in green home construction. Now, 100% of GEs TV spending is on ecomagination.

So, in the spirit of sustainability and Eco 2.0³ being about transparency, a journey, and being integrated, I encourage you as the reader to chime in with your thoughts, reactions or learning on the subject. This forum, and Sustainable Life Media as a whole, is committed to fostering the community and keeping the conversation going. Speak up.