I recently spoke with a Convention and Visitors Bureau that represented a well-known tourist destination. The organization was talking to me about creating a survey to help them better understand green and LOHAS consumers.

They wanted to understand what made them choose a green destination and theirs over others. What amazed me is their level of understanding on what things (perceivably) hurt their environmentally friendly destination such as cruise ships. What I was impressed with was that they were willing to ask people what they suggested they do about it after I recommended it.

By KNOWING, not guessing what drives LOHAS and green consumers to make choices on green products, services, destinations and so forth, you are one step closer to securing them as loyal customers. And greener customers such as LOHAS consumers have a tendency to be more loyal and support the same brand over and over again as long as it supports their values and ideals.

This is the time of year for hitting the slopes—the ski slopes that is. Choosing your ski resort can be challenging. I just ran across an interesting blog, Inspiring Women Travelers, talking about the Ski Area Citizens Coalition and how they have created a Ski Area Environmental Scorecard.

They base their scores on things such as energy efficiency, renewable energy credits and using cleaner fuels. They voted for the top ten and the worst ten—I wouldn’t want to be on the later list.

Here’s their current top 10 for this year:

1. Aspen Mountain Ski Resort – Colorado

2. Buttermilk Mountain Ski Resort – Colorado

3. Sundance Resort – Utah

I just read an interesting article about a new type of lift—one that is powered by the sun and takes two people from the base of a mountain to the mountaintop and back again. It’s called the Taiyou: Solar Powered Cable Car. What an interesting concept and way to involve natural in your design. I would think this would help more ski resorts and tourist areas become greener and save on overall operational costs.

This is one of many solar-powered electronic vehicles we are seeing developed. It seems like at least once a week I am hearing about a new solar-device being introduced to the market.

As the demand increases, I am sure more of these solar-powered tools will be available in other markets.

Paying attention to these and other green trends, will allow you to incorporate some greener tools into your toolkit to position your company one step ahead of others trying to break into the green space.

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler

As I write this blog post, I am traveling to Louisiana for a week long series of speaking engagements. As I have been traveling in airports, it has occurred to me that there has to be a better way to comply with the security regulations of no water or beverages allowed through the security check point and being green.

It is known by many that plastic water bottles have a 12% recycling rate, though, recyclable ones are on the horizon. Yet, we are left to purchase bottled water if we want more than a quick sip when we travel. I keep thinking there has to be another solution out there that we just aren’t seeing.

Sure, bottled water is a huge money maker for many restaurants knowing you have to buy it if you are thirsty before or after your flight. I used to remember seeing drinking fountains in airports, but I am noticing this has gone by the wayside—at least they are not as prevalent. So what is the answer?

I hurt my shoulder so I couldn’t post for a week or so. Sorry you haven’t heard from me.

I recently spoke with a company promoting a destination. They indicated to me that they were not spending money and focused on a message about the economy—of course, none of us have heard any messages like that, have we?

I asked them why they were just focused on the economy. Why wasn’t it green AND the economy? Green is part of the solution to get the economy back on track, why not make it a part of the solution to get travelers to their area? The company responded favorability and asked me what I meant. After explaining, she asked me to write a paragraph of my thoughts and send it to her. She wanted to discuss it at their meeting with the other executives.

I was not planning on writing about this until a business associate of mine said, “can you please write a blog post on this topic so I can share it with my clients?” So here it goes...

Why are we making everything about just the economy and not finding a way to incorporate our green solutions?

Aren’t we in essence creating green jobs when we are developing a new green process or product that requires a certain skill? Aren’t more travelers traveling to more historical and naturalistic areas? Are there any in your backyard that you can focus on to local travelers looking for green staycations?

I’ll talk more about this in my next blog post. Talk to you soon.

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler

In my last blog post, we discussed a city’s sustainability responsibility. We’ll be continuing this discussion in this blog post.

In indicated in my last blog post that a women said she didn’t recycle because she didn’t believe it would help and what was the point.

I’ve seen the same thing happen in companies where they institute a recycling program, people start recycling then one person ends up dumping the recycled products into a dumpster. This kills the credibility of the program and instills distrust immediately—something hard to get back.

When a city rolls out a program, communicate on a basic level would make sense, here is what I mean:

1. Explain the benefit of recycling and the downside of not recycling – I explained to this lady that people do not understand that when a landfill is full, we will need to transport trash, do you think transporting trash would diminish the air quality? We could end up in a similar situation as China because our air quality is so bad.

2. Show what’s in it for them – Why should they do it? Everyone has a different motive. Conventionals who are driven by more municipal behavior will actively engage in recycling, but they are only a little under 30% of the population. What about everyone else? For a drifter to relate, you have to show them how it affects them personally. Each groups relates very differently to these types of initiatives and are motivated in different manners.

In my last blog post I mentioned my experiences flying which lead to this next discussion on customer service.

Now, why did I tell you the story about my travels and the different airline experiences?

Recession or not, customers expect good customer service. Shuffling customers around from gate to gate and be in essence punished for arriving early does not make a happy customer.

Compare this service to Midwest who went out of their way to help me get to Des Moines on the way over. It was my fault that I booked 9:00 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. This was the first time I had ever done this! There was a flight leaving at the same time and arriving in Des Moines around the same time. They apologized for having to charge me $50 to change it and were over the top accommodating. Then, once on the plane they offered everyone cookies—a very nice touch, even though I do not eat them.

When times are tough, especially for industries who are feeling it more such as the airlines, you need to recognize that the one thing that can separate you from the pack is your customer service. Now I may be singling out two airlines, but it could have been any one of them. I just happened to have this experience on Delta.

When you are in the sustainability arena, good customer service completes the people, plant and profit equation.

Remember, it is about treating people right. People expect more from companies today when they have less dollars and even more from sustainable companies who they feel should know better.

Colette Chandler

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends