CSR and sustainable digital signage
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll have noticed the rising concerns over the whole planet coming together to become more sustainable. Governing bodies have recently encouraged everyday people to make sustainable choices through things like recycling, reducing fast fashion consumption and becoming more socially responsible. However, it has now come to light that in order to make a real dent in becoming more sustainable, businesses small and large need to become more socially conscious, and address the gap between knowing, and doing by embracing more sustainable choices.
Although many companies speak of being sustainable, and recognise the importance of changing their habits, many aren’t actually willing to proactively make a change and instead only discuss it as a way of looking more appealing to potential clients. When it comes down to it, 90% of executives do recognise the need to change but only 60% of companies have a sustainable strategy.
The future of sustainability
When it comes to being sustainable it has actually been reported that doing nothing can have a more damaging effect for the future of the business. As reported by McKinsey, having a more sustainable approach can allow a company to make more long-term investments. The circular economy has now become a more globally recognised term, and its growth potential over the next few years is huge. Many companies are now recognising the importance of reusing and recycling, feeding the renewable energy market that is expected to be worth $2.15 trillion by 2025.
Consumer demands are also driving companies and corporations to become more sustainable. Not only do 66% of consumers spend more if products come from a sustainable source, 81% of global consumers think companies should help improve the environment. As the number of millennials and generation Z consumers continues to rise, the concern around social responsibility is only going to grow stronger, meaning companies need to start acting now if they want to remain viable in the future.
Sustainable perks of digital signage
reducing paper waste & saving acres of trees
Across all industries, companies are responsible for mass over consumption not only of paper, but also the materials required to produce posters, flyers, brochures and any other piece of paper literature. For every ton of paper your business consumes, you sacrifice 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, two barrels of oil, and 4,100kWh of electricity.
Of global wood harvest, 42% goes towards making paper. Turning to digital communication not only reduces deforestation and illegal logging but saves water too; it requires 50,000 litres of water to make 10,000 sheets of paper. To put this into perspective, just 20 litres of water could keep one person hydrated for ten days (based on the daily recommended amount).
Paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills. It is a temporary and unsustainable method of communication. Whenever a message changes, new posters or handouts need to be designed, reprinted, and replaced. Digital signage, on the other hand, is a long-lasting solution that can be easily updated using digital signage software, with changes visible on-screen immediately.
Paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills
saving energy through efficient consumption
LED and LCD screens now have a very low energy consumption. If working at 80 watts for twelve hours a day at $0.12 kWh, the screen (subject to variables) would cost only $3.50 a month to power! Not only is this a lot cheaper than printing on endless amounts of paper, but it’s also far more beneficial to your business and the planet.
Digital screens also have a brightness control setting which makes the content on the screen more visible – even in the darkest stormy weather or brightest sunny day. Digital screens have the power to schedule ‘sleep mode’, whereby the screen brightness is automatically reduced to save energy and power. This means you can always display consistently visible content wherever, and whenever you want. Not only can sustainable digital signage capture your target audience, but it also increases conversion rates whilst reducing CO2 emissions.
quality over quantity
A well built piece of digital signage can withstand the elements, remaining structurally strong and visually clear regardless of the weather . Whether it’s a DOOH screen, a piece of wayfinding signage, an advertising totem or an LED or LCD screen, each piece of digital signage is able to display any kind of content at any time. Digital signage also has an ‘always-on’ capability, ensuring high quality content is always visible with low cost out-pit.
Traditional billboard and paper advertising models are much less durable and require a much higher cost, especially when an ad goes to print with an un-noticed mistake which then has to be scrapped and re-printed at an extra cost!
When it comes to maintaining your digital signage, individual hardware elements are easily replaceable, and highly widely recyclable. Also, even if screens are switched on 24/7, most of them have a lifespan of around 100,000 which equates to over 10 years.
becoming sustainable with inurface media
Here at inurface media our capabilities mean we are able to provide sustainable solutions to companies across a wide range of industries.
In the past we have helped shopping centres update their wayfinding solutions by offering digital totems that can be remotely updated whenever required. This has helped brands like British Land and Royal Victoria Place with their transition towards becoming more environmentally cautious.
Working with brands like Dr. Martens and Sports Direct, we have also been able to provide digital, touch screen catalogues that provide customers with the opportunity to flick through the brands e-commerce website. Not only does this reduce the need for paper advertising, it also reduces the need for a large over-consuming space giving customers every single brand product at the touch of a finger.
We have also been able to provide brands with large scale DOOH assets that make advertising easy. Replacing traditional old fashioned paper billboards with digital screens has proven to be significantly more sustainable than going to print every time a brand has a new message. Our support contracts mean we can easily change the digital content at the touch of a button, reducing the need to waste paper.
Thinking of going digital? Get in touch with us today to see how we can help!
