How to Design an Environmentally Friendly Environmental Campaign

At LMD, environmental communication is one of our core competencies—and one of our core values. Our work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Chesapeake Bay Program, Clean Water Howard, Prince George’s County Department of the Environment, and many other organizations has inspired us to do our part to keep our environment clean, green, and sustainable. That includes making sure that we design and execute our campaigns with the environmental impact in mind. We practice what we preach—here’s how:

We use digital advertising like social media, online ad buys, TV, and radio instead of physical ad placements. Not only are these ads able to be more closely targeted to our intended audience, but they also have a smaller carbon footprint because they don’t require the large quantities of paper and plastic that print advertising does.

When we do use physical advertising pieces, we think outside the box. This infographic created for the EPA’s Office of Water is used on reusable, movable signs near bodies of water with risk of harmful algal blooms in addition to being used on social media and their website.

We make green decisions at every level. We make sure that all of our decisions surrounding the campaign are as green as our messaging. This means printing less, using reusable and/or recyclable materials, and engaging with vendors who have similar principles.

Prince George’s County “The Bus” cuts down on carbon emissions by helping residents find alternatives to using their cars, so we were happy to place our order for a bus wrap.

We use data visualization to show big impacts. The goal of going green is to change our environment for the better—but it’s a huge goal that happens slowly over time, so it can be hard to conceptualize. Displaying data that shows the results of environmental efforts visually intrigues, educates, and engages target audiences. It helps citizens see how changing their behavior and making environmentally smart decisions contribute to a larger goal.

LMD uses a digitally-focused campaign for EPA’s Watersense, developing mini-infographics like the one above for social media and their website that show people their small changes make big impacts.

We put environmental success stories front and center. Hammering your audiences with negative messages about the environment can make them feel stressed, helpless, and hopeless. Instead, we’ve found that profiling people in our community who have made big changes in their daily behaviors inspires others to do the same. And there’s the added benefit of showing support for individuals and organizations who are working hard to enact change.

For Prince George’s County’s Beautification Campaign, we highlight county residents who are leaders in green education and action.

We partner with green organizations. This technique boosts green messages through cross-promotion, expands and strengthens networks of environmentally conscious organizations, and incentivizes businesses to put green behaviors into practice.

LMD has developed partnership programs and materials for EPA’s WaterSense and Prince George’s County’s Beautification Initiative.

True success of an environmental campaign is in behavioral change. This is why, as we do our research in developing messaging for campaigns, we learn how to change our own behavior as well. LMD wants to be part of the solution, so we do our best to conserve resources, cut down on waste, and partner with organizations and people who have similar goals.

Are you looking to run an environmental (or just environmentally friendly) campaign? We can help.

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