Re: [GreenYes] green goods

["Amy Bauman" <abauman55@hotmail.com>]

... well they do at least correctly label their magazine!

Just two nights ago I went to hear the impassioned words of Michael Crooke, 
CEO of Patagonia, discuss the vision of the company and how the 
environmental and social agenda has helped to make the company profitable as 
well.  Seriously inspiring.  Not only do they allow their sales to fall 
(short term) in response to raised prices when they use organic cotton over 
the mainstream (polluting) sources of cotton, they also share all their 
scientific findings about the environmental impacts of processes / products 
with their competitors.

Not to say that there aren't crappy products out there.  And yes, some of 
them are made out of recycled feedstock.  But is the bell curve of 
crappiness dramatically skewed for green products?  I doubt it.

Let's look at what the Roper Poll is saying.  Most consumers won't go too 
far out of their way to buy green.  Hey, THAT'S REALISTIC.  But if two 
products are sitting side by side in the shelf, many consumers will go ahead 
and buy the green product.  Why?  Because it feels good.

From a personal standpoint, I really don't care about the businesses that 
don't 'get it' ... I'll continue to do my work knowing that more and more 
businesses / consumers WILL get it way before we're in crisis.  Why?  
Because it ultimately makes a lot of financial sense to use recycled 
feedstock in manufacturing.  Because, contrary to myth, it actually doesn't 
cost more to deconstruct a building and recycle the C&D debris than it does 
to use a wrecking ball and haul all the debris to a landfill.

Amy Bauman
The trick is keep an eye on the prize when these articles come out.
>From: "Dan DeGrassi" <dpw180@co.santa-cruz.ca.us>
>Reply-To: "Dan DeGrassi" <dpw180@co.santa-cruz.ca.us>
>To: <greenyes@grrn.org>
>Subject: [GreenYes] green goods
>Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 10:25:42 -0800
>
>DAILY GRIST
>06 March 2002
>Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE, a project of Earth Day Network
>
>3.
>IT'S NOT EASY MAKING GREEN
>Green products won't necessarily keep a company out of the red:  Many
>businesses are concluding that eco-friendly marketing campaigns
>simply don't work.  Forty-one percent of U.S. consumers say they
>don't buy green products because they fear inferior performance,
>according to a Roper poll, and most say they prioritize convenience
>over ideology when making purchasing decisions.  The result?
>Recycling rates are down, single-serving packaging is up, and fewer
>products are marketed as eco-friendly.  Some environmentalists blame
>the problem on confusion generated by inconsistent, and hence
>untrustworthy, labeling systems for ostensibly environmentally
>friendly products.
>
>straight to the source:  Wall Street Journal, Geoffrey A. Fowler, 06
>Mar 2002
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