De-Colonizing Branding & Marketing
A conversation with Jo Banner & Frankie Orona: Part III
Welcome to Upstream’s series examining—through storytelling, case studies, and interviews—the principles of a just transition and how reuse is in conversation with every element.
This is Part III of our reflections on conversations with Jo Banner, an environmental justice advocate and the co-founder of The Descendants Project, and Frankie Orona of The Society of Native Nations (see Part I here and Part II here). In this section, Jo and Frankie discuss the shifts necessary in marketing, branding, and consumer behavior in order to ensure a truly just transition.
One of the principles of a just transition is that it creates governance structures and economies that allow for self determination, robust local communities and social safety nets, and ecological responsibility. The way we talk and think about consumption and reuse must therefore steer us toward this kind of autonomous, localized economy that acknowledges the interdependence of community members as well as the environment.
Developing a Lexicon for Reuse
As the reuse movement gains traction and reuse systems are developed across the United States and beyond, the language to describe reuse and the symbols to visualize it need to take into account unique community identities. Jo notes that a “one size fits all” approach to creating a reuse system will not be fully successful if it is historically normative: “It’s a very colonized perspective of everything having to look exactly the same and be the same. That may not fit for every culture.” Instead, reusable packaging and reuse systems should exhibit distinctive community features:
“Maybe reuse needs to be grittier. It needs to have more texture. It needs to have more colors, and needs to have more flavors and different types of input. In Louisiana, we’re very bright. We love a lot of colors. It’s very tropical inspired. So, if I bring a reusable packaging system that did not reflect color, that would not reflect my community. ”
While it is important for different cities and towns to implement reuse systems for their specific needs, Rebrand Reuse (powered by PR3 and RESOLVE) has initiated a quest for a global universal symbol for reuse. Jo—who serves on the Reuse Standards Panel for PR3—advises designers to move beyond the three arrows of the recycling symbol that have been ingrained in the global sustainability psyche: “We still hold on to the rules that have been set up by the recycling world. And the recycling world comes from the petrochemical world. So, how do we break loose of those standards?”
She encourages designers to “really to bring a different tone to it. We have to keep in mind who's making those standards and why you have those standards in the first place.” Moreover, the reuse movement must carefully develop this lexicon and brand so that it resonates with people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, making the navigation of these systems smooth and easy for all people.
We Ain’t Going Anywhere
Along with branding comes marketing, and in the shift to a reuse economy, Jo encourages, “We can educate people that it is okay to want less, and it's not the consumer’s responsibility to have to figure out what to do with something once they have it.” Generally speaking, marketing has played a tremendous role in strengthening a throw-away culture, and our tendency to continually want more (see Part I) leads Frankie to be unsure whether a true just transition is possible.
For reuse to play a part in a just transition, Frankie says “that we first need to understand that we do not need as much as we think we do.” The vision of reuse is to create regional or local systems; however, the desire to scale and grow bigger is a part of Western culture, which would ultimately mean taking more—and someone, somewhere else will be impacted by this growth. A true just transition “must lead with safeguards for human health and the environment, top down and at every step. If not, we are becoming part of the problem,” Frankie says. After all, one of the Indigenous Principles of Just Transition states:
“A just transition acknowledges Indigenous traditions that tell us that all economic activity must be rooted in an understanding and respect of our sacred relationships with Mother Earth and Father Sky. We have our place and our responsibilities within Creation’s sacred order. The interdependence of humans and nature is primary. We recognize that there is no separation between how we treat nature and how we treat ourselves; the demand for the recognition of Indigenous rights and the Rights of Mother Earth are one and the same.”
Ensuring a just transition that includes reuse requires constant reflection and improvement, and Jo recognizes that this transition inevitably has its faults:
“I’m okay with something not being perfect. I’m okay with it falling apart — as many times as it needs to. As long as we’re improving and we’re moving into something that is a vision… Whenever we are looking for a solution, the solution is held at such a higher standard than the level at which the problem has been allowed to operate.”
The imperfections inherent in this process are not indicative of the failure of reuse systems. If anything, they are representative of the collective learning the reuse and environmental justice movements have so far made. As Jo says, “We have people who have experienced, who have fought on all levels, who have gone all around the world and have pushed back against all kinds of powers. We're still here… We ain't going anywhere.” It follows that the most resilient communities play an essential role in building robust and enduring reuse systems.
Read the other reflections on our conversations with Jo Banner and Frankie Orona:
Explore the rest of the Just Transition series here.
