Part of Susan Evans’ story is familiar, she became “hyper sensitive” to the environment when she had children. What is unique to Susan is that she took that awareness and shifted her career in marketing sustainability issues and developing environmental products. Upon moving to Shanghai in 2008, she founded Kplunk, an organization committed to a sustainable future by creating demand and markets for sustainable living – focused on creating desirability for sustainable behavior and a new social currency.
The Challenge: Marketing green to 1.3 billion people in China. The added bonus: Many of the urban residents have a disposable income for the first time, and can afford to waste energy and not worry about it for the first time in their lives. Susan explains, “Many people are turned off from things that are marketed as “green” and are still learning what it means.
Her motto: People, infrastructure, and products are the three pillars of sustainability.
“My goal is to create markets and demand for sustainable living, and make it highly desirable. Selling the concept of green in China isn’t about saving trees, and water, it has to be contemporary, about technology, and it has to really work. The truth is, there are people in the younger generation who are doing it [sustainable practices], and should be rewarded. Youth 25 and under are showing interest and desire to do things for the environment, but they are the first generation that haven’t had to focus solely on survival. We can’t stop them from replicating the Western style of consumerism, but we can influence what they buy, and how they use it.”
Susan decided to put these concepts into practice by launching 01 cool bike. The goal was to attribute new values and recreate a connection with cycling. (No small feat given that the current trend in Shanghai is to remove bicycle lanes in order to make more space for cars).
Susan explained that biking is associated with underachievers, and is competing with the status symbols of motorbikes and cars, which demonstrates wealth and prestige and that you have arrived.
A photo of a marketing report developed by Kplunk about attitudes toward biking
Susan is working to have bicycles integrated into the design of future transport systems, and if she gets her way, people will begin seeing bikes as a new trend and as a fashionable accessory.
The good news is that she is not alone, bicycle sharing just started in Shanghai as part of the expo. While it is a brand new system, they had 20K people sign up in the Minghung district of Shanghai (where the initiative launched).
“People want to change, they just don’t know how to do it. What is a surprise is that so many westerners are doubtful that Chinese will change.”
Want more Susan and stay on top of her initiatives? Check out her website Kplunk.
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Tags: biking, china, cycling, kplunk, shanghai, susan evans, sustainability
