Going Green GreenGraffiti Hits the Streets of Cyprus

Cyprus may have a long way to go in terms of being eco-friendly, but GreenGraffiti has brought it a little closer.

Graffiti may conjure up images and smells of atmospherically harmful spray paints and underground punk rock enthusiasts, but it doesn’t have to.  Well, the punk rockers can stay, but graffiti can be green without sacrificing any of its cool.  Graffiti can be made out of natural materials instead of spray paints, and even be used as a more sustainable form of advertising (instead of wasteful and polluting billboards).

And that is the message that GreenGraffiti, a sustainable communications company that helps companies advertise through eco-friendly graffiti, is trying to promote.  That, and the idea that you can have “profits with principles”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IKadDBLT1Q[/youtube]

Founded in Amsterdam in 2007 when Jim Bowed challenged Dutch green guru Eckart Wintzen to create marketing materials without paper or ink, GreenGraffiti has developed into a communications leader that has created over 150 campaigns and worked with multinational corporations such as Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza.

Instead of printing advertisements on standard billboards, GreenGraffiti uses templates to sustainably imprint messages all over the urban landscape.  It does this through a few different media: chalk and milkpaint (seen below), moss, sand, snow, and reverse graffiti (seen above).

As shown in the video clip, reverse graffiti is a process by which a message is “cleaned” onto a sidewalk using a template and a power washer.  Advertisements created this way can last between two weeks and several months, and the water used by GreenGraffiti to create them is offset through the GreenAdsBlue foundation.  (GreenGraffiti is completely carbon neutral.)

“Using our business as a tool for social and environmental improvement, we aim to be the world market leader in sustainable communication,” says GreenGraffiti.  “And make the world a little better along the way.”

Now that GreenGraffiti has arrived in Cyprus, hopefully it can make the island a greener place too.

:: GreenGraffiti
:: Cyprus Mail

Read more about Cyprus:
Cypriot Law Threatens to Discourage Cycling
1 Million Migrating Songbirds are Killed for Pickled Dish in Cyprus
Bike Sharing Launched in Nicosia, But Environmental Commissioner Has His Doubts

Author: Karen Chernick

Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.

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