I spent the last day shopping for a computer for my office.

I am looking for a more environmentally friendly laptop that offers the world and is green as well. I want it to be lightweight, yet offer a full-size keyboard, be powerful, yet, be energy-efficient, and so forth.

I’m amazed at how long it has taken me to find something with all of these things. What I am more amazed by is that there is really no site that rates the computers, educates me about my options, etc. There are quite a few sites with educational informational that offer me great advice, yet don’t tell me what to buy.

I would think there would be an opportunity for someone to step into this space and create this type of site. I am sure consumers and business people like me are looking for the same thing and not able to find it. And, they want the computer to be just as good as their less energy-efficient model, yet better on the environment.

When I say the term, “greenwashing,” I’m still amazed at how many blank stares I get, especially from people and companies that have green products and services. Some believe that it doesn’t exist and others think it is not something about which they have to be concerned.

Recently, I spoke at an association luncheon. One of the attendees emailed me after the luncheon indicating that she volunteered to write an article on greenwashing within her industry and wanted me to help her put the article together. It was a great opportunity to set the record straight on greenwashing, if it is dangerous—I choose to use the terms, “irresponsible” and “unethical,” and how to avoid it happening. This article is for the promotional product industry. As you know, there has been a wave of green promotional products, so this is quite timely.

Often times when I speak, I mention my easy to use system for attracting and retaining green consumers: Get it, Do it, Prove it and Use it. I made it this simple so companies of all sizes could understand the steps it takes to understand green and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumers. I find the simpler, the better. That is why I want to talk about the Precautionary Principle.

The Precautionary Principle requires you to prove something is safe before it is introduced into products or practices. The idea is to err on the side of caution. It ties in nicely with the “Prove it,” step of my process and supports the theory that it is not enough to say something is environmentally friendly or healthy, you have to prove that it is too.

I just read an interesting piece on zero-waste in a magazine. One of the readers wrote in and mentioned their unique way of recycling this particular publication.

They created an Eco-Depot that sits at the end of their long driveway. It’s a mailbox of sorts that says on it, “please recycle this information to your neighbors.” In the mailbox is magazines they have already read. Apparently, quite a few people take the magazines and pass them along.

This got me thinking, couldn’t businesses do the same thing? Think about it. If you were a medical office or any facility that had magazines in your lobby, couldn’t you put a placard on the table that said, “Please take these magazines and pass them along to your family and friends. When you are done with them, please place them in a recycling bin?”

I bet you would get people to take them and it would create some buzz.

How else could start on the road to creating a zero-waste philosophy?

In my last post, I talked about a zero-waste philosophy and campaign, if you missed that discussion, you may want to read it now.

Now that you’ve created this philosophy and started down the path, you need to realize this is a process and not an overnight thing. I am not even sure if it can be done 100%, but you can at least start reducing your waste.

So how can you get the word out and why would you want to do this?

This reminds me of a conversation I just had with the owner of a green facility. She told me that she spent years thinking that she shouldn’t talk about her facility being green, people would just know.

Today, she is quite disappointed that she didn’t get the word out as it has been a tough road. She’s one of the few, if only, green facilities in her state. This is a great example of why you need to talk about what you are doing.

Whether it is your zero-waste efforts, your green and health initiatives targeted to schools or ways to reduce energy usage and more.

How will people know you are doing these things unless you talk about them?

It’s amazing how we’ve seen the green trends integrated into American Politics.

Just the other day, the Democratic National Convention announced 2008 was going to bring the most sustainably-produced Democratic Convention in American history.

Not only have they chosen an Energy Star office building, they’ve also put the entire housing selection process online, hired the first sustainability director, used a transportation consultant who committed to offsetting its carbon footprint, hired a construction manager that will use green building practices to prepare the Pepsi Center in Denver for the event, and they’ve required their Official Vehicle Provider to provide an entire fleet of fuel-efficient and alternative full vehicles.

The Republican convention is planning to go green as well.

I was just reading a recent article that businesses were getting ready for this year’s Earth Day by filing for green-themed trademarks.

Apparently, last year the trademark office saw a 10% spike in trademarks since 2006.

Here is a list of the words used most often in trademarks within the green branding arena*:

• Green — 2,400

• Energy — 1,200

• Clean — 900

• Earth — 900

• Eco — 900

• Organic — 700

• Environment — 450

• Planet — 400

• Friendly — 180

*Numbers are approximate

Apparently, this sudden green surge caused a gridlock in the trademark office. Many companies filed for almost-identical trademarks at the same time, according to a recent article in Adage. According to the article, these me-too filings will either not merit legal protection or will be very weak trademarks.

I find this quite interesting because consumers are already confused by the current terms, certifications, seals, etc.

In my last blog post, I discussed the trademark office becoming gridlocked by the surge of green trademarks.

Does this mean that there are greener products in the marketplace requiring these green trademarks or even more greener brands than ever before?

To consumers, this just means more confusion.

Not only are multiple companies’ trademarks quite similar, let’s face it, there are few truly original ideas today, there are similar green and LOHAS products in the marketplace. They all tout similar benefits.

Many companies spend plenty of time and resources developing “the best” green trademarks that they feel will make them one step closer to capturing more green consumers.

Unfortunately, this is not enough to attract and retain these green consumers. In fact, in my opinion, it might alienate them. Why?

Earlier today I attended an excellent, local awards ceremony put on by SWACO (Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio). The events honored the most environmentally friendly businesses in our area. Ed Begley Jr, the environmental activist and well-known actor, was the keynote and delivered a powerful environmental message. He spoke about how each one of us has an opportunity to make an impact no matter how small it may be. He spoke about talking less and taking more action, something from which many of us could benefit (me included).

The reason I mention this event is that this particular company, SWACO, a company that finds new uses for trash, and creates recycling and reuse programs throughout the area, thought outside the box to create an amazing event. By creating this event, they managed to position themselves in the green leadership category within our area. They did this by thinking outside the box, being different, being innovators, and being catalysts for change.

If you read one of my earlier articles you’d remember me talking about Xerox’s new thought leadership approach. This is exactly what I am talking about here. SWACO positioned themselves as change agents and you can too by just thinking outside of your cubicle, office, charts, etc.

There are thousands of companies claiming their products are green, how can you rise above the clutter to make sure your green products and services are noticed?

You can tell times have changed. I remember back to when my company produced its research report looking at consumer attitudes toward the environment, health and wellness. The sales of hybrid vehicles in the state as well as the U.S. was so insignificant that we decided not to even mention it in the report.

A recent article in the Associated Press indicated:

While U.S. car sales are down, more hybrids are being driven off the lot.

According to new data, hybrid sales jumped 38 percent last year, even as overall vehicle sales dropped 3 percent. One analyst said the rising cost of gasoline may affect some buyers, but fuel prices aren't the main reason hybrid sales are going up.

Instead, he said, sales are probably higher because buyers have more options—many sedans and utility vehicles now have hybrid counterparts. The analyst also said hybrids have been around long enough for consumers to trust the technology.

While sales are going up, hybrids comprise only 2.2 percent of the market share. Keep-in-mind, even 2% market share is a significant increase. I would assume this would continue to rise each year as the market continues to shift its mindset toward helping the environment and prices continue to come down.

Green is about transparency, being authentic and being real. Without that, you really have nothing.

I recently spoke about authenticity—a great trait to have as a leader. The more transparent you are as an organization—making people aware of your environmental initiatives, products and services, the more likely you will avoid any greenwashing.

Greenwashing means you are claiming that your products, services, etc. are environmentally sound when they are not.

Some companies are getting caught with their pants down—way down—when they claim that there products are environmentally friendly and consumers call them on it. This means they ask them to prove it.

Prove it? Since when do I have to prove it?

Do a search today for anything green and thousands of articles and links pop up in your search engine. Do a search for “green jobs” and you’ll be surprised how many links appear as well.

A friend of mine had indicated that she wanted a green job, but felt there were not that many available, or just available on the West Coast. I’m in the Ohio marketplace, very new to the green trends, yet, to read our main business publications today, there isn’t a day that goes by without a green article appearing. Within the last 6 months, I have been noticing more and more articles about green jobs.

Apparently, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Blue Green Alliance launched their Green jobs for America campaign, which claims that investing in clean, renewable energy is the best way to protect the environment, foster greater energy independence and create more than 820,000 new jobs nationwide.

In my last blog post, I talked about green jobs and how the timing is right to create more jobs especially related to the environment.

What I want to talk about in this post is timing.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Blue Green Alliance knew the timing was right to launch their Green jobs for America campaign. They knew this because they were aware of environmental climate and consumer awareness was on the rise. Had they tried to launch this type of campaign even a year earlier, in these same states, I am not convinced it would have succeeded. Why? Because the awareness wasn’t there from a consumer or business standpoint—at least not to the level it is today.

In my last post, I mentioned timing being a critical part of any marketing and communications effort, especially a green one. What I want to talk about here is green perception versus green reality. So, what do I mean by green perception versus green reality?

Green perception is that a product or service is being perceived as green. This could be because it is new to the marketplace and people have not investigated it yet. It could also mean that others have claimed it is green—possibly the press. It could also mean that it was rolled out in a marketplace newer to green products and consumers don’t know yet what they don’t know. Whatever is the case, the perception is that it is green.

Green reality on the other hand is just the opposite. It means that in reality your product is green. It doesn’t mention to what degree, but means that it has some green elements. Maybe it is biodegradable or recycled or even marketed in an environmentally friendly manner. Maybe 1% of the proceeds are going back to 1% for the Planet or another charitable organization. Whatever the case, the reality is that this product or service is green.

Why is this important?

I recently returned from the Green Earth Expo in Orlando. I went out there to speak and moderate and I have to say I was impressed by the quality of the show. There were over 400 exhibitors, all, mostly green or eco-friendly. There were hundreds of seminars and one day was specifically for businesses to come and learn about green subject matter. I had a great discussion with a company introducing hydrogen energy solutions as well as others on everything from green payment processing solutions to Florida’s first ecohome.

Although my trip was quite a whirlwind, I only spent about 2 days there, it was well worth it and I encourage you to attend it or other green expos in your area. They are great resources for other businesses, to educate consumers on environmentally friendly solutions, water conservation, solar energy and so forth. Additionally, they are a great place to exhibit if you are a company wanting to connect with the green and LOHAS consumer. You’ll definitely find them at a show such as this. The more environmentally friendly exhibitors, the more green and LOHAS consumers you will find. If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you’ll know that connecting with green consumers can be challenging. That is why I tell you about all the different ways to do this.

I was talking with a business person the other day at a sales organization. He indicated to me that they only cover surface selling for organizations; they do not go as deep as we do. I cannot tell you how odd I found this conversation.

I found it odd because any type of sales training you conduct needs to be applicable to the current market situation. If an organization just offers a canned presentation, how does a sales person within an organization apply it to the trends in their marketplace? How do they respond to the green trends and allow their clients to use their vehicle to reach these green consumers?

My conversation with this individual became more interesting as he indicated to me that they do not cover “marketing tactics such as green.” I know I must have asked him to repeat himself as I did not think I was hearing him correctly, “marketing tactics such as green?”

Yes. That is what he had said. He really thought that green was just a tactic.

A couple of weeks ago I ran across a printer at an expo in Florida that was not only an environmentally friendly (green) printer, but taking the concept to the next level. I was so impressed with what they were doing that I thought I would mention it so other printers and companies could get ideas of how to really incorporate green into your marketing and operations.

The printer, Aloma Printing, was deemed a non-hazardous waste producer by the EPA for recycling chemicals and products that are harmful to the environment. They also use soy and vegetable inks with low VOCs, environmentally friendly (green) paper, etc. Very impressive, though I know other printers are doing the same thing.

Here is where the real difference is:

Earlier in my career, I used to advise clients on advertising in various vehicles including yellow pages. I remember asking the yellow page companies at that point (5-8 years ago) if there were any “green” or “LOHAS-type” headings or categories in which to feature my clients’ products and services.

At that time, there was nothing, at least in my marketplace. Boy, times have changed. I came across a company called Green Directories that actually is a green yellow page directory. And they are not the only one, type in “green online yellow pages” in any search engine and you’ll see the environmental yellow pages and the sustainable yellow pages. Co-Op America also offers a green vendor directory as a member.

In one of my previous blog posts I mentioned the idea of resorts going green. I am revisiting this topic because I am amazed by how many more resorts have gone green to standards that surprised me.

Amelia Island Plantation is on its way to becoming one of the largest green resorts in the state, according to Green Program Director Bill Di Stanisloa.

According to a recent article, they have made sweeping changes in the way business is conducted there, including the installation of low-flow plumbing in hotel guest rooms, the introduction of starch-based biodegradables for disposable containers and green lighting throughout the property.

Conservation has always been important at the Plantation, Di Stanisloa said. The resort instituted a tree conservation program in 1971 and, according to Public Relations Manager Leigh Coulter Beal, 75 percent of the area's original tree canopy remains in place. This to me was quite impressive especially since some resorts were probably not considering this in 1971.

Other things they are doing to take green even further?

As I am writing this blog post, I am still in Baltimore, Maryland after speaking at the American Academy of Urgent Care Conference.

Of all people to speak at this type of conference, you would think I would be last on the list. Normally when we associate the phrase “urgent care,” we normally do not associate it with “wellness.”

Yet, the Conference planning committee had the foresight to include me in the line up of speakers understanding that wellness is the direction that many Americans (and many other parts of the world) want to head.

As I write this blog post, a new green certification program has been launched. The American Consumer Council has just announced the launch of its Green C Certification Program.

The Certification program is designed to recognize companies and organizations doing their part by practicing Corporate Social Responsibility and incorporating environmentally friendly business practices.

According to the company’s press release, to earn the Green C Certification designation, companies need to adhere to the program’s comprehensive criteria (see www.americanconsumercouncil.org ) and describe their environmental practices and CSR policies in detail.

An independent team of certified auditors verify and validate the contents of each application. Applicants are formally recognized by ACC and issued a three-year certification from the non-profit American Consumer Council and its Consumer Green Council, which administers the Green C Certification program. The idea behind it is to reward companies for not just claiming to be green, but implementing the highest green standards and social responsibility.

Even the book publishing industry is capitalizing on the greening rage—in a good way-- with green being the new color at its annual BookExpo America conference in LA. This trade show generally draws around 30 thousand editors, booksellers, publicists, agents and the like to gain additional exposure.

Businessweek reported that this year’s event even included some workshops on Climate Change, Buying, Packing & Publishing Green and a keynote address from Thomas Friedman; the New York Times writer whose book, Hot, Flat and Crowded will look at the impact of globalization, population and climate change.

From what I read, Tyson Miller from the Green Press Initiative gave a workshop on the environmental trends related to the book industry. Apparently, the production of one book results in 8.85 pounds of carbon emissions. Considering 25% of the books fail to sell (many people do not realize this), increasing the use of recycled paper could have a dramatic effect.

I have to say that I was quite impressed to see that the use of recycled paper by publishers has gone from 2.5% in 2004 to 13% in 2007. The goal in this industry is 30%--saving a billion tons of greenhouse gases according to Tyson Miller.

Recently I received an invitation to join a group within Linked In called RC Green Tree. Since I had never heard of the group, I inquired about it from the owner/founder. What I uncovered I want to share with you… a neat concept long overdue. A concept that really speaks to the integrity of green and instills the trust early on.

According to his website, "RC Green Tree is a forum where like-minded consumers and retailers sharing the same philosophies and beliefs, come together to make a difference. The tree provides a one-stop shopping for consumers looking for eco-friendly products and services. Everything from apparel to food, to home furnishings can be found in one unified place."

The other day I stopped by a booth at a consumer show. One of the women at the booth found out that I was in the green marketplace and speaking at the show and offered me a lapel pin. The pin said, “Go Green.”

What I liked about the pin was that it indicated, “Changing the World, One Office at a Time.” It also indicated on the package of the pin, “this is a recycling initiative for all Celebration, Florida businesses. Join the Celebration Committee… It included contact information and mentioned, “make your commitment today.”

Not only did this pin take the green concept further than many, the company, who’s booth I visited, indicated at the top that they were proud to be a sponsor of this effort. One of the VP’s even provided their contact information to get involved.

This is what impressed me. It wasn’t about just “going green,” but really getting involved and getting others involved in the efforts. Really making a difference.

Within the last year, I’ve spoken to more businesses who are afraid of going green and communicating it, especially the latter. They are afraid that consumers and businesses will scrutinize them even more than before and they will not be able to live up to their standards. Because greenwashing lists increased in number during this time as well, businesses are also afraid of being on one of these lists.

Is the fear founded? Yes and no.

In the last couple of years, we have seen a surge in green conferences and trade shows. Of course all of them sound wonderful and many of us want to attend as many as possible. Unfortunately, this is not possible.

I started thinking this would be a good topic to blog about after having one of my Consumer Trends & Profits Homestudy Course participants ask me about how to determine which green conferences are best to attend.

1. Attendance – One of the first recommendations I will make is to research the trade show you are thinking of attending, especially if you are thinking of exhibiting there. I came from the trade show management industry and I will tell you just because a conference indicates that it is planning to have 50,000 in attendance, this may not be the case. You need to understand how they count their attendees. Do they count a person who attends a conference Thursday-Saturday as three people or one? This may sound odd, but there are different ways of counting attendees. Also, does this conference and show attract the right type of attendee who will buy your products and services? The worst thing would be to show up at a conference and have attendees show up who are not your ideal customers. Maybe you offer a more LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability)-oriented product or service that is more holistic and mainstream consumers would never buy it. If you don’t ask the right questions of the show organizers, you might end up exhibiting at the wrong show.

In my next post, I’ll continue this discussion on what to look for when attending green conferences.

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler

In my last post, I talked about getting to know the green conferences. We are continuing this discussion with talking about the history of the shows and budget.

2. History – Does this conference or show have a history? Has it been put on before? If so, how many people attended? How many exhibitors? Get a good sense of if it has a history in attracting green attendees and why has it been so successful? Find out if it is the leading conference in the area if you want to stay local. If you are looking at targeting the entire nation, look at other similar conferences and see which ones draw the best selection of your target audience. Remember, conferences can say what they want, you need to do your homework to make sure you find the best selection of green and LOHAS consumers, if this is who you are targeting.

In my visit to Florida just recently, I stayed in a gorgeous hotel that is one of the leaders in the green marketplace. Even though they were one of the leaders in green and had been for a while, I was challenged to find any information to this regard on their website. It was only later, after I was staying at the facility, that I discovered just how green they were.

What happens often, that I talk about, is that facilities forget to talk about their green efforts. What they are doing to conserve water, their in-room recycling programs and the level of certification they reached. Some feel that this is just something they should do. Others feel that consumers will figure it out.

What I always advise is that you need to get the word out about how your facility is doing its part to conserve natural resources and combat global warming as well as educate consumers how they can do their part as well.

I just read in Delta’s Sky magazine that Delta and Northwest are merging and the merger should be finalized later this year. The article, written by the CEO of Delta, talked about how the level of service will increase, there will be more direct flights to Europe and the rest of the world, increased customer service, etc. It talked about WHY they are combining the airlines.

I thought this was a great article that could be easily duplicated in most any industry when introducing new green facilities, products, services, etc. I thought that it only makes sense for a CEO or President of an organization or company to make that commitment to be green and talk about it publicly. Talk about WHY the company is committed in this direction and what their plans are going to be.

Why is this important?

I’m a traveler, both a consumer and a business traveler. People are surprised when I mention my remembrance of riding the double-decker 747 planes, duty-free shops onboard, and aisle ways that you could even roll your bag down. Back then, kids received playing cards & airline wing pins, food on flights was expected, and the cockpit was unlocked.

Times have changed.

As a traveler, my goal is to stay healthy while traveling. I do what I can to protect myself by arming myself with the right food and nutrients. I’m not perfect, but my goal is to seek out as much healthy food options as possible.

Think I am alone? I’m not.

Many consumers are looking for the same sort of thing. Why do I bring this up?

In my last post I talked about the intersection between green and health and the need for people to stay healthy on the go. I concentrated mostly on the airline industry and soon realized we need to look at some of the other industries within travel and tourism as well.

Recently, when I was traveling, a storm started brewing in the area, after seeing how dark the sky was getting, the airline delayed my flight. I was stuck in a very small airport for about 3-4 hours. Now this would have been fine except the airport was renovating so there was no food and no Internet capabilities. I have no disrespect for smaller airports. I really do not mind them—as long as I am able to have some amenities that help me maintain my healthier lifestyle. Unfortunately, this airport had a vending machine full of junk food and a pop machine.

I was starting to get hungry, but I knew I couldn’t eat anything in the machine. As I watched other people in the airport and talked to many of them, they were faced with the same dilemma. My thought kept coming back to what an opportunity this was for both the airline and the airport to differentiate themselves.

Green energy spending is on the rise. According to the latest article in the BBC, “global investment in "green" energy surged ahead in 2007 and has continued to grow this year despite turmoil in financial markets, a report says.

Rising oil prices, concerns over energy security, climate change worries and growing government support were behind the rise in green power spending ($148bn (£75bn), up 60% from 2006), it said.

Wind energy got the most investment but solar power grew fastest as a sector. This presents many opportunities for companies with products and services within this arena to get their message out in front of consumers who are looking for solutions.

In many of my blog posts, I mention the importance of integrating green throughout your organization and corporation. I talk about how green cannot be a marketing or advertising tactic but something that is embraced throughout your organization by your employees as well.

Microsoft is one of the companies to embrace this philosophy especially with its new employee incentives to improve energy efficiency. Microsoft began charging its business units based on the amount of energy consumption of the servers that host the services as opposed to basing the charge on the amount of floor space required to stack the servers that their services used. As a result, the company got rid of equipment it was not using. The corporation saw a 22 percent improvement in the energy efficiency of its data centers according to a recent article.

And Microsoft is not alone; Dupont is another company that was able to cut their energy usage.

I figured it was a matter of time before green office stores emerged. Now I am not just talking about office supply stores that carry green products, but ones that have integrated a green philosophy into their overall store design and concept. Office Depot leads the way with its first prototype in Austin, Texas.

Not only will it have a smaller environmental footprint, but it is supposed to be using less energy and water in its daily operations and increase its recycling efforts in addition to being LEED-certified.

What I found interesting was that the company is not just expanding its offering of green products, it is also educating its customers why  particular products are green and how they can make sustainable product purchases a part of their daily lives.

Here are some of the highlights of this greener store:

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.

Green business certifications are definitely on the rise.

Conduct a quick search in Google and you’ll generate pages upon pages of results linked to green business certifications. If you are a green restaurant you can be certified by the Green Restaurant Assocation, by your state to be a green business, LEED-certified, certified to conduct green meetings by the Green Meetings Industry Council, be certified in your industry as a green-certified expert, and the list goes on.

Green certifications are definitely on the rise. But, how do you make sense of it all and know which direction to head?

Since there are various shades of green, it can make it challenge to quantify or define green. There really is not standard definition—part of the reason the FTC is conducting their audit of the green rules and standards.

So how do you know what certification is best suited for your business?

First of all, you’ll need to decide what green consumer you are most interested in. Many of you reading my blog for the first time may be surprised to learn there are different consumer segments within the green consumer space. Do you want to reach the consumer driving these trends, the influencers and the early adapters of everything green?

In my last post I discussed the rise of green business certifications and how to know which direction to head. In this post, I’ll be continuing my discussion and helping you understand this green certification and what it is designed to do.

Green is the rage and because of this, consumers do not trust many environmental claims and messages. A true challenge for those who are authentically sustainable as a company and organization. Many core green consumers, LOHAS, feel that businesses do not always need a piece of paper saying they are green-certified to show they are a good environmental steward. They’ll be able to tell by your philosophy, actions, and so forth.

For instance, did you know the Co-op America has a “Responsible Shopper” section where they talk about companies’ not-so-responsible actions. Consumers can quickly access this information. Additionally, I walked into my local nutrition store and saw a pocket book on the exact same thing. Many of these websites and tools are now in place to offer knowledge and insight into which companies are green and which are greenwashing.

Am I saying that green certifications are a waste of time?

In my last couple of posts, we discussed the overall green certification programs, why they are on the rise and how to make sense of it. I’d like to view this discussion showing you how to scrutinize the various green certification programs and decide with which ones to align your business.

If you decide that green certification is what will enhance your already green brand, then you need to decide which green certifications to choose. This can be a daunting task, since all programs look good on the surface. Here are some of the questions you need to ask to determine if this aligns with your brand.

1. Is the green certification backed by a reputable company, agency or organization? How long has this entity been in existence?

2. What is their criteria for choosing who gets certified? What is the application process?

3. How often are certified businesses reviewed? What do they have to do to get re-certified?

If you tried to find a green network group even three years ago, they were hard to find, especially in certain cities. Today, you can open up most any business publication and see listings for green network meetings. You can Google green or sustainability network groups in your area. You can join social green network groups online such as the Green Business Facebook Group—I know about this one since they hosted one of my teleseminars.

Let’s face it. Green networking is everywhere. Pretty easily, you could join 20, 30, maybe even 40 different green network groups statewide, citywide, industry wide and globally. As more and more of these groups emerge, it makes you wonder where everyone was congregating before this. Where they just thinking they were one of the few that thought this way?

This is my third post on green networking. Anytime I see a trend on the rise, I know I need to devote more than one post to it. When you are thinking of joining a green networking or green network group, it is important to choose carefully. Any type of group memberships can be nice, they can also take a lot of time, especially away from you, your business and family. I am still saying I support them, but you need to choose wisely.

Here is how you consider your green networking groups:

1. Are you looking to get involved where you live? Does your business provide a product or service that can be a solution to solving any problem within sustainability on a local level? If so, you may want to think about a local group. Also, if you are looking to get involved from a personal level, a local, citywide group (in the city where you live) is a great place to start.

2. Make sure your goals align with theirs. Anytime you get involved in anything, especially a volunteer organization, you need to visit first to determine if your goals align with the groups. This will ensure you are not wasting your time and theirs.

In my last blog post, we discussed the missing link between health and sustainability—health and the environment—we talked about organizations that are making a difference and what you can do to show your internal and external audiences that you get it. Here are some additional things you should consider:

1. When you roll out a health-based internal policy such as banning smoking, make sure that as a company you are not using your chemical-laden products to create an even unhealthier environment by polluting the waterways. Think about how to make an impact across all aspects of your company.

2. Consider what your company can do to encourage workers to stay healthy and care about the environment. Think about what type of programs you can put in place to help. Can you create a community-based health initiative or simple exercise initiative to help get your employees working with people within the community toward a common goal of putting their health first? What about a similar initiative involving creating a healthy community for all of us to live? Could you create or get involved in local clean ups, recycling efforts, creating art on trails, expanding natural reserves and planting trees?

To really understand the missing link between health and the environment, you need to know what you can do as a person, company and organization to create a healthier lifestyle, healthier community and healthier environment for yourself, your employees, your customers, etc.

As you are doing this, you need to tell people about what you are doing so they too can join your efforts. There are plenty of individuals, consumers and business people alike, that embrace a healthier, greener lifestyle and will support your efforts as a company and organization if they believe you are doing it for the right reasons. This is where effective communication makes a difference.

Knowing how to effectively communicate with consumers, especially green and LOHAS consumers on all levels helps make your mission and/or initiative real and authentic. It also helps you as a company and organization create greater transparency and be regarded with higher integrity than those you just create these types of program and initiatives just as a marketing, advertising or communications ploy.

The other day I discovered a boutique that had some interesting art and household items. Paintings from local artists were hung on the wall, cards from local artists were available for sale and so forth. I also noticed some soy candles that mentioned essential oils in their descriptions.

When I inquired about if they used all essential oils, the sales clerk had no idea. The candles were made by a local individual and packaged in glass containers that appeared as if they had been re-purposed. These candles fit the bill to be more environmentally friendly, especially if they contained all-natural ingredients. I found it rather interesting that they ingredients were not listed and that no one knew if they were all natural.

What a potential lost sales opportunity.

In my last blog post, we discussed the store I recently discovered and some ideas of how they could include products that meet green and health standards and appeal to the consumers interested.

So what else could this store do to show their commitment versus show that they are obvlious to the entire green trend?

How about sharing with consumers the store behind the store and how they chose their products.

Share with them how local artisans can get their goods and services displayed, show how featuring local artists and buying locally cuts down on excessive shipping costs and supports the local community.

What about connecting with a local farmer’s market and offering their customers a special shopping day at the store? What about having a day where the local artists can meet the customers and featuring local, organic, gourmet appetizers.

The other thing that comes to mind is having a class where they could show patrons how artists take existing products and re-purpose them—a local retail shop comes to mind that re-purposes their fabrics into scarves and other items.

Think about how you can carry this philosophy through to the way you operate.

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler

In my last blog post I mentioned the rise of Green Social Networks and the inclusion of them in your marketing and communications plans. There are so many different ways you can make these social networks work for as a part of your green marketing strategy, but before you do that you need to determine what network is right for you.

For instance, if you want to facilitate more interactions and connect with other linkminded individuals you may want to consider what David Wigder calls an Interaction site such as Meetup, freecycle, Do Something, etc.

If you are looking for a site that allows people to share, collaborate and support each other in personal pledges to make their lives and others more environmentally friendly, then you might want to consider what David Wigder calls a Commitment Site – Make me Sustainable, Yahoo Green. Then just make it apart of your green marketing plan.

Affinity sites enable users to share online with users who may want to live a greener lifestyle. Care 2, Gaia Community or Facebook would fall into this category.

Once you decide your target, then it is important integrate social networks into your marketing mix. I know my blog is one of the vehicles I use and I also have just started getting active in various Green groups in LinkedIn. Just make sure you create a green marketing strategy just as if you were using any marketing, advertising or PR vehicle.

A recent article in the UK’s Climate Change newsletter caught my eye when the headlines read, “Greenwashers Smarten Up.” So much has been covered on the topic of greenwashing that I wondered what would come next.

The article reinforced the fact that European regulations are tough and getting tougher with Europe now requiring advertisers and marketers to adhere to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Guidelines that you can access by clicking here:

http://www.cipr.co.uk/environmentalcomms/pdfs/CIPR_Environmental_Sustainability_Guidelines.pdf

There are also ISO10421 for guidelines as well. Here is the link to their guide,

http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=23146

With all of these regulations and guidelines on green, it makes quite a few companies nervous to make a move. What you basically need to know is how to adhere to what you can and cannot say. I come back to the same statement I always make, “be comfortable where you are and where you are going.”

Why do I say this?

In my last blog post, I talked about UK’s environmental regulations for environmental claims made in advertising and marketing. I know it is the topic of conversation not just in Europe, but also in the US and other parts of the world. The U.S., although, reviewing the regulations, have not cracked down as hard on violators as in Europe, who is fining companies and organizations that they feel are greenwashing. I talked how to find out about some of the newer regulations. I now want to talk about some other interesting tidbits that I found in the article in the Climate Change’s newsletter. So much of what they said applies to the U.S. as well.

Here is what the author said as quoted in her article and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Guide:

"Claims should always avoid the vague use of terms such as ‘green’, ‘non-polluting’... they should avoid linking vague descriptions, such as ‘friendly’ or ‘kind’, with words like ‘earth’, ‘nature’, ‘environment’, ‘eco’ and ‘ozone,’” the CIPR advice says. CSR Europe’s guidelines concur."

I also recommend that words such as “natural,” “sustainable,” and “green” be avoided unless explicit information is supplied as to what you mean by using these terms. They are getting too overused and just not understood. Eco-friendly is another one that really means nothing since it is being applied to any and everything under the sun whether it is environmentally sound or not.

As I write this post, this week was the launch of the investor advocacy network, which promoted an end to forced child labor in its cotton harvest. Reportedly, Uzebekistan used hundreds of thousands of children, ages 10-15, for manual labor. This group of socially conscious shareholders, pension funds and human rights advocates banded together to push the Uzbek government to enforce International Labor Organization child labor conventions, in an news release distributed by Corporate Responsibility Wire.

Why am I mentioning this in my green marketing blog?

Because this same thing can happen to any country, company and brand that does not take the responsibility for actions that others do not deem as socially responsible. This not the first time this has happened and it will not be the last.

Unfortunately, we've seen the same actions happening with false environmental claims. Sooner or later, people will have to explain their actions and this will result in not only bad press, but also lost integrity and even customers. When the word gets out that a company or brand or even a country, tried to promote something as environmentally sound when it was not, consumer loyalty will be lost.

Watchdog groups continue to grow to ensure we are responsible.

A recent poll of 1,000 adults by ABC News, Planet Green and Stanford University found Americans still think global warming is the biggest environmental problem facing the world — but not as much as they did a year ago.

According to Greenwire, “25 percent placed climate change atop their list when asked an open-ended question about environmental concerns. That is an 8 percent drop from a similar poll conducted in April 2007 but still much higher than the 16 percent who responded with global warming when asked the same question in March 2006.”

“Air pollution (12 percent) and energy problems linked to oil and fossil fuel dependence (11 percent) ranked second and third in the poll, essentially the same places they have been in for the last three years,” reported by Greenwire.

Here are some of the other reported results of the poll:

Major retailers are continuing to dive into renewable energy sources to power their stores.

JCPenney is the latest one adopting renewable power sources that deliver both environmental and business benefits, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) announced plans for solar and wind power projects that will supply electricity to 10 stores and one distribution center. The pilot projects represent the next step for JCPenney in its efforts to leverage new technologies and engage its 155,000 associates in innovative energy programs, according to an article in the LOHAS Journal.

The retailer also plans to obtain ENERGY STAR certification for at least 200 stores, according to the same article.

This is a nice step in the right direction for yet another retailer to go down this environmental path and show exactly what it will mean.

In the article, it was mentioned that “the systems will help avoid emissions of approximately 146,000 tons of carbon dioxide over their 30-year expected lifetime, which is equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions generated by more than 800 cars.”

Recently, I have noticed quite a few companies offering to plant a tree if you respond to a certain offer—Citibank and Delta to name just two. Delta was one of the first offer travelers the opportunity to offset their greenhouse gas emissions of a particular trip by allowing Delta to plant a tree when they choose to fly with them. Citibank is offering to plant a tree when you choose to go paperless with your statements.

Both of these offers make sense. What I like about Citibank’s offer is that they will plant a tree on your behalf, not asking you for more money to do something good for the environment. In Delta’s case, you need to contribute additional money that will then go to an organization that plants trees.

I really think that if you want to do something to show your commitment to the environment, you need to not charge people additional dollars to do it. Yes. You can offer additional programs that allow people to participate in a recycling effort or a tree planting effort, but do not sell it as if you are doing something for them. Show your commitment by planting trees for x number of flights or x number of times a month. Whatever it is, you need to show your commitment as a company, a brand, and a product or service first, to get consumers to buy-in.

Recently, I had a conversation with a media entity starting a green initiative. They wanted to launch it quickly and without really any great depth. What do I mean by this and why would they need to have depth? All green initiatives have to have a degree of real, authentic commitment on behalf of the entity launching them. In this case, it is the media company. If you as an organization are looking at launching a green initiative, you automatically draw attention to what you are doing as well, whether you intend to or not. You are now scrutinized for what you are or are not doing so now it’s time to step up to the plate. It’s time to create greater depth and look at how you are doing things. Let me give you an example:

One TV station with which we worked decided that they wanted to create a green initiative. I helped them create it, structure it, put the advertising requirements in place, etc. to ensure their program had real integrity for all of its advertisers. I knew without this, they would not be able to secure the greener companies as advertisers.

I advised them on how they as an organization would need to create greater transparency and tell people what they were and were not doing to support the environment. Fortunately, they embraced this advice and did more than I had ever imagined. They looked at most everything they could do at a local level:

In my last blog post I talked about creating green initiatives with greater depth. The reason I wrote about this is due to my seeing so many media companies creating programs that I feel are not the most responsible. Programs that offer to deliver “empowering green claims” to which companies can attach themselves and their brands. Unfortunately, this opens up most any company to being greenwashed, especially when consumers expect that company and brand to best represent that green claim. It can quickly destroy the integrity of any company almost overnight with prospects, customers and the press. I have seen it happen, especially in the case of the press.

This is why I started working with media companies to create deeper, green programs that allowed them to not only attract greener consumers naturally by the type of content, but also attract the right advertisers that really practiced what they preached in regard to their environmentally friendly efforts.

Plastic water bottles will soon no longer need to be added to our landfill. Bio-Plastics Film Inc., has created an additive making its bottle completely biodegradable, according to its recent press release. 801 Packaging is the first North American Bottling Company to utilize the revolutionary Bio-PET Additive, that will make 801 Packaging's Water Bottles not only recyclable, but fully biodegradable when disposed, according to this same release.

The company is anticipating this will aid them in becoming a world leader by implementing "Green Technology" in their manufacturing process. What is most impressive is that not only will the bottle be kind to the environment, the company is introducing new biodegradable shrink film for the case packs, degradable corrugated pads/trays, and biodegradable pallet wrap. They really seem to be committed to reduce their entire footprint as much as possible putting them at the forefront of conservation.

On August 27, 2008, the state of California, Department of Insurance, introduced one of the most unusual green initiatives I have heard of for insurance. It’s a pay-as-you-go plan designed to reward people for driving less by reducing their insurance premiums.

As early as next fall of 2009, new regulations will make the new option feasible. By encouraging consumers to drive fewer miles, and thus reducing their insurance costs, the new insurance option could help reduce both greenhouse gases and vehicle accidents.

It’s been introduced as a green insurance option. That has some inherent green benefits built in. I just wonder is it really a doable option for parts of California where public transportation is not so readily available? It will be interesting to see how successful this program is and if other states adopt it.

I think introducing any programs to reduce greenhouse gases are great as long as you can get consumers to buy in. That is the key. A great program with no buy-in is about the same as a mediocre or bad program with great buy-in.

We are officially in the midst of a recession. I remember hearing President Bush say quite a while back that he would not confirm that we were in a recession, though, today we know we are.

Businesses are running scared; some are closing their doors, while others are doing the bare minimum just to get by. I get it. The challenge is in the midst of this recession, fear can drive the wrong behavior, which can then drive even more behavior that could kill our businesses sometimes overnight.

People are definitely cutting back, yet if we have any hope of coming out of this recession, we need to think ahead to ways to make our cash flow positive and do good for the world while still being able to keep our doors open. We need to use our green side in a good way to help us rise above the clutter and be heard.

Because everyone is cutting back, it is easier to get your message out in front, especially for green businesses. Believe it or not, there are still consumers who will spend on green products and services, sure, they are looking for a value and will not spend frivolously. But if your product is superior and is environmentally friendly, then you may want to think about really understanding these consumers willing to buy greener products and services in the midst of a recession.

I just read the newest headline that people who buy organic foods are not necessarily always wealthy.

To me this is of no surprise and to those of you who understand the LOHAS consumer, this should be of no surprise to you as well.

We know they are driving the health and green trends. They’ll support local and organic products and services and spend 20% more than the average consumer. Remember, to them, it is not about convenience, it is about maintaining a certain standard of lifestyle that meets their values.

Many people misunderstand this consumer and misunderstand this organic trend. They think that only the wealthy buy organic. Now, research does show that people who have a higher income do have a tendency to buy more organic foods and products. That is one of the things that our study saw even in 2005.

Home sales may be down, but homeowners are doing more green home improvements than ever. They may not be updating the whole kitchen, but they are doing the small jobs that count for saving energy and money, such as weather-stripping, caulking those breezy windows, buying CFL bulbs and insulating their bathrooms and water heaters.

Home Depot reports in a New York Times article, that, in addition to green repairs, people are also stocking up on pellet fuel before winter hits.

Could the retail sales of pellet stoves rise as well? I do wonder as I know last year when I looked at pellet stoves, it was still challenging to find them. Only wholesalers and retailers off the beaten path carried them.

Will we see more retailers starting to carry these, 90%+, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly stoves?

With the wave of environmentally friendly products for just about everything including your home, consumers are starting to add more eco-friendly options into their remodels or new builds. Concrete or cement is one that is touted as environmentally friendly and often used for countertops. I just read an article that makes you realize that sometimes the process hurts the environment, though, the final product may not.

According to the Climate Change Newsletter, about 2.5 billion tons of cement are produced every year, which amounts to almost 0.3 tons for every person on the planet. By 2050, global production is expected to reach 5 billion tons as housing booms continue in countries such as China and India.

Making cement is a very carbon-intensive process. The process creates CO2 in two ways: by driving carbon dioxide out of calcium carbonate (from limestone) in a chemical reaction inside cement kilns; and by burning large quantities of fossil fuels to heat the kilns to the 1,450C necessary to generate the chemical reaction.

For every ton of concrete produced, the chemical reaction releases 0.6 ton of CO2, with up to another 0.3 ton generated in the burning of the fuel to heat the cement kilns.

I speak and train regularly in the hospitality industry. Green is getting to be a very popular topic and I am asked to speak on how to be effective in marketing and communicating to green and LOHAS consumers. LOHAS consumers are the ones driving the trends.

What I have found is that that the hospitality understands what it takes to go green, but not as much on how to effectively market and communicate to these consumers. The issue is that if you become a green facility and do not market or effectively communicate that you are green in the right way, you can lose the consumers.

Worse yet, you can hurt the state as a whole. I am a firm believer that states that go green within the hospitality industry should really have a budget for green training on how to market and communicate to green and LOHAS consumers. If they do this, they will be able to attract and retain more green tourists. If they don’t train hotels, inns, CVBs, etc., they could lose tourists who may not know they are green at all.

To regain marketshare, computer manufacturers are greening their computers even more just making them energy efficient. Considering it costs just 3 percent more to produce a new, green PC and Forrester Research Inc’s study said that 25 million shoppers say they would pay more for green PCs, creating a green PC only makes good business sense. In July, Dell created one, its greenest PCs (it indicated) ever—the Studio Hybrid. The computer is clad in bamboo.

Green PCs cut energy costs 21 percent per year by adding a new power supply system that only costs $20 more, according to Hewlett-Packard’s Kirk Godkin. He is the senior product manager for corporate PCs.

The latest research suggests that a business that buys 2,000 would spend $40,000 more but each desktop saves $6 to $35 in energy costs annually. Companies that leave computers running around the clock would save $50K and recoupe their investment overnight, according to Godkin.

I recently attended an event that recognized competitiveness in manufacturing. It was put on by a company that specialized in consulting for the manufacturing industry, MAGNET. The event, held in Cleveland, Ohio, was quite well-attended in the midst of challenging economic conditions and in a city where jobs are not as prevalent.

It wasn’t enough that this event had top notch food and a well-orchestrated event, complete with cheerleaders and a marching band, but also that they were able to pull this off in a challenging economy, and have a packed house.

I was glad to see that the event recognized competitiveness in the green arena. I think it was the first time. Nonetheless, a local and international manufacturer was selected as the winner, Shearer’s Foods. Being a snack food company consistently operating machinery, their goal was to track and reduce overall consumption of electricity, water and natural gas by converting from a manual data tracking process to a real-time electronic monitoring, leading to a 50% reduction in water usage/discharge and a 3% reduction in electricity.

I just conducted a teleseminar on How to Market and Sell Green in a Down Economy. It was a topic that I felt was timely and needed during this tough economy. I was also asked about this subject regularly.

I spent 60 minutes talking about the consumers who are more willing to spend dollars on green products and services even in the midst of a recession. Believe or not, there are consumers still willing to spend 20% more for products and services they believe in. And, they’ll spend this money even if the economy is down. What you need to understand is that they are value-driven, not driven by price. Sure, just like any other consumer, they may have less money so they may buy less, but they will still pay that premium. To whom I am referring?

LOHAS consumers. Consumers with money and a conscience who balance their values on health, the environment and social issues. They are concerned and interested in a company’s environmental and social responsibility record. But the LOHAS consumers are not the only ones you can target for green products and services…green brands. Did you know that 80% of consumers show some green motivation, according to the latest NMI study?

• DRIFTERS (24% of all U.S. adults): Driven by trends, DRIFTERS are currently engaged in sustainability though their behaviors are not deeply rooted. They are price sensitive and are more likely to be eco-concerned if affected personally. DRIFTERS’ behavior has shown some of the most dramatic increases over time.

• CONVENTIONALS (26% of all U.S. adults): This very practical segment does not have green attitudes but does have some “municipal” environmental behaviors such as recycling, energy conservation, and other similar behaviors. This segment’s behavior is driven more by cost savings or a desire to waste less than by environmental consciousness.

Green drinks is a group of which I just became aware in my hometown. From what I understand, this group with international and local chapters are set up in various cities around the world. If you go to the green drinks website, here is what they say:

"Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up for a beer at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network.

These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It's a force for the good and we'd like to help it spread to other cities. Contact your local node to get the latest info about coming along.”

In the midst of a recession it’s especially important to ensure your campaigns are green initiatives are successful…there is little room for error. This is why I am going to devote today’s discussion to why green initiatives don’t work and what you can do about it. I am going to talk about how to quickly and affordably get on the right track to consumer acceptance, sustainable sales and business profits.

So why might your green initiatives not work:

When I was putting together my 5-week webinar series on Creating Authentic Green Value, I learned about a brand about which I want to tell you:

Eric Daly was a new gardener about 7 years ago with the Inn by the Sea in Maine. He indicated that he thought it was crazy to spray exotic plants with chemicals. He also thought that they should use plants that are indigenous to the area and make it look more like Maine. Without realizing it, he basically transformed the Inn. From that point forward, they started using the landscape to create food sources for wildlife and a natural habitat. People came to see the grounds as they starting planting blooming gardens and holding classes on how to plant local plants and create a natural habitat. At this time, they were not aware of the green movement.

They developed a program for kids – 5 years ago. Kids created bug customers and learned about the ecosystem from the bugs’ point of view. People would come to the inn to stay and see the wildlife. They engaged people, then the profit came later.

Have you ever heard of the Universal Design Living Laboratory? I hadn’t until I was introduced to the concept by a business associate of mine in the retail industry.

It was quite amazing what two people are setting out to accomplish through the help of businesses and individuals interested in sponsoring them. Here is how their website describes what they are setting out to accomplish:

“This national demonstration home and Universal Design Living Laboratory will serve to help people better understand how to create a more comfortable living environment that will enhance their quality of life. This Universal Design Living Laboratory will serve as a resource for others to learn from – today and tomorrow.”

So what is universal design you might ask? They describe it as “human-centered design accommodating people of all sizes, ages and abilities. The reason that this 3500 square foot home will incorporate universal design is because one of the primary residents is a wheelchair user, Rosemarie Rosetti, Ph.D. The home will also be LEED-certified.

What is even more amazing is that they plan to have the entire house sponsored through in-kind products, services and cash donations. They’ve already received an overwhelming amount of support and hope to be able to secure additional sponsors to the tune of $700,000+. They plan to give these sponsors exposure in their marketing efforts. They are planning a documentary to document the building process from start to finish.

China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases is looking at taking on the challenge of climate change, according to a report by the Associated Press. China is now winning praise for its upbeat role in climate talks—there is speculation that carbon emissions and flooding among other things led to this new thinking.

China has a long way to go, according to the recent Associated Press article. “It depends on carbon-laden coal for 70 percent of its power, and has plans to build more than 550 coal-fired power stations. Within the last year, China accounted for two-thirds of all carbon emissions in 2007 on a global scale. Suggesting this will not be an overnight process, but a long road ahead.

If you look around you’ll notice the whole world (or so it seems) has gone green. If you believe everything you read, you’ll think that everyone is buying green. This is not necessarily the case as I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts entitled, “Why Green Initiatives Don’t Work.”

The key to getting consumers to want to buy your green product or service lies in the value you create. Not just any kind of value, but the “authentic green value. Sure, you’ve all heard about creating value for your brands. What you may not be familiar with is what value really means to the consumers who care most about your green and/or LOHAS brand.

Why do they choose to buy it? Convenience? Price? Environmental features and benefits? Each reason they choose to buy dictates which consumer you are targeting. Make sense? It needs to because the value you create as a brand is not necessarily the value some consumers consider as valuable. Additionally, they may not even believe the value proposition you lay forth. Consumers driven by convenience may not consider it a value that you have more environmental attributes than your competitors. If the product is more convenient for them to use, they’ll buy it for that reason first, then everything else is a bonus—if it is believable. That is where authenticity comes into play.

Think outside-the-green-box. It should be a bumper sticker on every car (maybe not..it might be too tacky) reminding people that it’s time to think outside the green box. Consumers are thinking outside that green box and asking for more green attributes and benefits. Green products of the past are not today’s green products.

So the question is…if consumers are thinking outside that green box, why aren’t companies?

To me it lies in the idea that no one wants to innovate, especially in a down economy. It’s too risky. But is there a way to think outside that green box without too much risky innovation? I am convinced there is.

Throw aside your old green thinking and bring in some new thoughts on how you can make it through this next 1-2 year recessionary period. And even be profitable. Believe it or not, there are companies who are increasing sales—despite all of the hardships we read about in the paper or in online journals.

It appears that the health and green connection is taking more shape, especially in Japan. The hot water bottle is more popular than ever—it came back in fashion this past month. Interestingly enough, it is being used as a way for families in Japan to save on their energy costs. The hot water bottles are becoming quite a fashion statement though, with a slew of handmade covers being made available some even being targeted at children.

President-elect, Barack Obama has already indicated one of things he will be focusing on is creating more green jobs. It is no surprise that this is a focus for other companies throughout the nation. Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, is working with its suppliers to create a green-jobs incubation program in the U.S. The company has formed a Green Jobs Council and more than 30 of its suppliers are participating in it—Bp Solar and General Electric to name a couple.

In the meetings, it was discussed that the catalysts for the creation of these jobs was increased customer demand as well as the need for leadership in sustainability programs. It was also recognized that barriers might hinder the process due to the present economic climate. Additional capital would be needed as well as people needing to be trained in these new green jobs.

As I write this post, it was reported that 14 U.S. companies have formed a coalition to make a new battery for electric cars. The group is seeking $1 billion in federal funds to help this idea come to fruition.

Industry giants such as 3M Corp. and Johns Controls Inc. are two of the 14 who are calling themselves the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture. It is reported that the group is setting itself up similar to Sematech, a government and industry funded group where its members make up 50% of the world computer chip market. This consortium received close to one billion in funding in the ‘80s to help the U.S. compete against its international rivals in the chip industry.

Apparently, the market for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for cars is too small to support the building of a plant by any one company, according to an article in Information Week. As a coalition, these companies would have a better chance of competing with Asian manufacturers who currently supply the majority of the batteries used for both electric and hybrid cars. The funding the coalition receives would be used to build the first large-scale plant in the U.S. to build lithium-ion batteries.

The automobile makers in the U.S. are expected to play a role in the alliance in the future. So, I wonder, will this be a way to help the auto industry regain momentum? It’s not the first time industry giants have formed coalitions to help bring a new technology/concept to market and it won’t be the last.

Would the formation of this new coalition be a means to push the production and availability of more electric cars?

Consumers are continuing to shop, despite the necessary cut bucks they have had to endure, and they are putting their conscience into it as well.

A recent annual study by Deloitte indicates nearly half of the 13,000 consumers polled said they’d be willing to pay more for green gifts. This was up from 17 percent last year.

This really is no surprise considering general consumers are becoming more aware of how their decisions have an impact on the environment and something as simple as forgoing a bag is something they can do to make a difference. The study also indicates a significant number of people are willing to pay more for green gifts and supplies.

My hunch and educated guess would be the availability is up. It’s easier to find green gifts in the main stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, etc. When we conducted our study in 2005, the first in the Midwest, main consumer groups indicated that lack of availability was one of the reasons they did not purchase greener products.

In my last post, I looked at the latest study by Deloitte indicating holiday shopping is becoming a little greener. There are some other aspects of the recent study I’d like to comment on.

The study did indicate that thirty-eight percent of those polled said they will use fewer bags this year compared to 27 percent last year.

I’ve noticed many retailers trying to get clients to forgo a bag altogether, one such retailer is Substance for Fashion Conscience People. The owner, Christina Getachew, feels that providing yet another reusable shopping bag is wasteful and asking people to forgo a bag is very effective. And I have to agree. Although I think it is great to provide reusable bags, I now find I have an over abundance of them which could be deemed as wasteful as well. Every time I speak at a trade show or attend a conference, I receive not just one, but numerous ones.

Retailers such as Substance can follow the lead that Getachew has taken and so can other businesses. By merely not having to go to the expense to purchase a multitude of bags, you can cut money off your bottom line and put it to good use as Getachew does. When consumers decide to forgo a bag, she makes a donation on their behalf to education-focused non, profit, Donors Choice.

In my last two posts, I talked about holiday shopping becoming a little greener. I’d like to continue that discussion relating it back to current research and studies. If you did not read my last two posts, you may want to read them before reading this one to help you better understand the premise of this ongoing thread I am posting.

In this Deloitte study, twenty percent of the respondents said they will purchase more eco-friendly gifts this year. And, 14 percent are expecting to buy more organic products. Although the study did not segment out which consumer groups are responding in what way, I’d suspect that the 20% percent of the respondents would fall into the LOHAS category or at least one of the other greener consumer segments. That 20% is pretty close to what percentage of LOHAS consumers are in the nation and since we know they are the prime purchasers of green products and services for themselves and for family and friends, they would most likely be the target indicating they will purchase more eco-friendly gifts this year. One thing the study did not indicate is the definition they provided to the respondents for the term “eco-friendly.” Did they even provide one at all? The term is so misunderstood that using it freely might create potential confusion from the get go.

Historically, in the past, major retailers such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. were known for couponing and sales. Consumers often realized they did not need to pay full price for many things and waited for the sale. It wasn’t too often you noticed a specialty shop couponing or offering many sales, if any at all.

Green or LOHAS-oriented retailers are no different, few couponed and offered much on sale. Many because of the small-scale of their shops and others just to keep their value intact. And, it is known, that LOHAS consumers will spend 20% more for products and services that meet their value system. Other consumer segments such as Naturalites also have a tendency to shop based on values as opposed to many mainstream consumer groups driven by price.

Of course, a recession changes things a bit. Even the consumers willing to spend more, will spend it, but they may not have as much to spend so they’ll choose wisely where they spend those dollars. Sustainlane has started to address this with a couponing approach. Sustainlane, known for its Green Ad Network, Angie’s List of sorts for green products and services, created a way for smaller, greener, LOHAS-oriented stores to get in front of new consumers by offering them a way to save. They call it their GreenSaver, an online source for green deals.

Stevia natural plant-based sweetener, is getting a line extension of sorts into Rebaudioside A, known as Reb-A. the food and drug administration approved it as the first all-natural zero calorie sweetener, to be adopted as a key ingredient in mainstream food and beverage production. And the industry has not wasted any time. Coca-cola and Pepsico are rolling out products this month that will feature the sweetener as a more natural version of their existing one. Their plans are to extend it into their existing brands as line extensions to include Sprite, Odwalla, SoBe and Tropicana. It is yet to determine how they will be marketing these new products.

A recent article in Advertising Age indicates that there is some speculation that the addition of this sweetener could make it confusing for the beverage industry to market the product. Some of the products such as Sprite’s Green product will be marketed as having “50% fewer calories than regular sodas.” Others will have no calories at all.

I just ran across a story on a green wedding contest and knew I needed to read further. By the time you read this post, the voting process may have been started (voting starts January 12th), but the premise of this post is important. Clay Hill Farm, an event, lodging and natural wildlife habitat, had a contest to win a $40,000 complete wedding at Clay Hill Farm in York, Maine.

The five semi-finalists need to start campaigning for the wedding of their dreams and encourage the public to vote for them by ballot--an ingenious way to get exposure for Clay Hill Farm, the sponsors and the couples. Since Clay Hill Farm just became certified as a green facility in Maine, I wonder if they used this contest as an opportunity to generate exposure.

Here is a little more information on the giveaway:

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

We’re in the midst of the New Year and it is time to forget about old, bad behavior and actions and focus on some new ones — some new rules. The rules I am referring to are for the green and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) marketplace, though they could be easily used for most any marketplace. I covered these and my other 6 rules more in-depth in this month’s newsletter. Click here to sign up and read the entire article

1. Stay true to your claims. Consumers are becoming more and more educated on what it means when green claims are made through articles, the new administration, and regulations. In order to be successful in the green area, you need to stay true to your environmental claim and not spend unnecessary dollars and time trying to convince people that your product, technology or solution is green when you have very little to back it up.

I presented my session on how to effectively sell to green consumers who care and become one of the “in” brands at the National Retail Federation.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that 150-200 attended my session, the room was just about full and the conference was as well attended as last year. From what I heard, there were about 15,000 major retail executives (and those supporting the industry) in attendance and about 585 exhibitors.

This really was good testament to me that retailers are doing everything they can to educate themselves on how to get ahead despite the current economic climate. They were learning about new ways to look at consumers with my session on Holistic Green Retail Strategies and other sessions such as how consumers make unconscious decisions. I’ll talk more about that in my next post.

What was interesting to me was that the majority of the attendees were from outside the U.S. I am not sure why this surprised me as green is more of a global trend being embraced by many countries—some being further ahead that the U.S.

I wrote a white paper for the event on “Creating Authentic Green Value.” If you’d like to receive a copy of it, please email me at cchandler@marketing-insider.com. It is focused on retailers, yet would apply to most any type of industry to justify why being green is not enough and why many green initiatives don’t work.

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler

After conducting my seminar at the National Retail Federation’s conference this past weekend, I attended a very interesting session on conscious versus unconscious behavior from consumers. It made a lot of sense that consumers say one thing and do another. I think we all know that this happens sometimes.

This particular session focused on neuromarketing and a research study that involved brain scan technology. Martin Lindstrom was the speaker and talked about research that involved asking people what they think about a brand, then scanning their brand and finding out that they think one thing and say another.

The research revealed that the warning label, “smoking kills” actually increased people’s craving for cigarettes. Also, the research indicated that sponsorship ads that involved images that were recognizable and did not include logos, were more effective than ads with logos.

Now what does this mean? Does this mean that we should never trust what consumers tell us? I don’t think so. Much research is valid, but we do need to understand what this research means and it supports that people buy based on their values, attitudes, behaviors, etc. Sometimes we don’t know what they are and it is up to us to find out either through brain scanning software (which can be expensive) or by getting to know them.

Green consumers are some of the most misunderstood and often overlooked. They don’t always trust and believe in ads and I would suspect that they would be the ones to recognize a brand they trust without a logo versus one with one.

As I mentioned in one of my last blog posts, I spoke at the National Retail Conference where Office Depot and Best Buy spoke about their results with their greening of their operations. I am asked quite often what type of results companies should expect from going green. I always like to share what others say:

I thought of you as well as your associates when I listened to a presentation from Office Depot, Best Buy, RecycleBank and Terracycle on the ROI on going green. Here is some information I gathered that might help you in your efforts if or your customers decide to go green.

• Best Buy reported

A 101,036,793 utility bill savings

364,000 tons – carbon reduction which as a result of their waste being recycled. This was equivalent to saving 2.7 million trees and removing 247,000 cars from the road

• Office Depot reported

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

Apple is focused on its green aspects of its new MacBook, the latest notebook from Apple. It boasts that it is “free of bad chemicals like mercury and “uses less than a quarter of the electricity needed to run a light bulb.

Apple was actually fourth from the bottom in the ninth Greepeace guide to green electronics, published in November of 2008. So I would imagine after this latest MacBook, there green rating would rise.

In Greenpeace’s report, they only make three demands for manufacturers of electronic goods:

I just a recent article in a magazine (E-Environmental Magazine) about how employees can help their employers save money while helping out the planet. I immediately thought that was a great idea and a way to prove their value and do something that makes a difference. We know the economy is tough and companies need to save every penny they can—the more they can save, the more opportunity to keep the valuable employees employed.

In this article, it mentions that businesses waste precious resources such as water, energy and paper products. It also suggests what types of things businesses can do to get started down the green path. Here they are:

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?

As companies continue to look for ways to reduce expenses and minimize their environmental footprint, they naturally turn to their meetings. Greening a meeting is really nothing new, yet it is front and center due to green being top of mind and because it can save dollars. The Green Meeting Industry Council not only holds a yearly conference on this subject, but also has chapters throughout the nation holding their local educational meetings.

This year’s conference, February 24-26 in Pittsburgh, where I will be speaking, is promising to help companies, organizations, facilities and the like understand how to move from sustainability to action. I’ll be speaking on the 26th on the health and green balance and connecting with the consumers and businesses who care most.

My session will help businesses industry the connection between green and health and what consumers and business expect from green meetings. I chose this subject because I find there is often a disconnection between green and health at meetings especially in regard to the food. Businesses may choose to “green” the meeting by not using paper plates or paper napkins yet may never consider that greener foods is local and organic if possible.

In my last blog post I talked about the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference. I thought it was fitting to talk about how to green your next meeting. Keep in mind these are 8 simple tips to help you think and act in the same direction:

1. Do your homework. If you’ve never organized a green meeting, read up on it or attend an event such as the Greening the Hospitality Conference I mentioned in my last blog post. The Environmental Protection Agency and Green Meeting Industry Council has a lot of information available on their websites.

2. Find out about your clients’ mission and values and how a “green” meeting might help them drive their message home. Sometimes, the person involved on the client side doesn’t even know it’s an option or even something to consider.

3. Use it as a marketing tool. If you really want to differentiate yourself from other meeting planners, offering something they don’t will definitely set you apart, especially if you are more knowledgeable.

I just saw a recent study about marriage being greener than divorce. I was surprised that someone actually took the time to study this…to be honest.

In the study, it indicates that divorce has more of an environmental impact including higher demand for resources and lower efficiency in household resource use. This study was published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study also indicates:

"Divorced households in the U.S. could have saved more than 38 million rooms, 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 627 billion gallons of water in 2005 alone if their resource-use efficiency had been comparable to married households," write the authors. "U.S. households that experienced divorce used 42-61% more resources per person than before their dissolution."

CNNMoney.com published an article on some of the top companies hiring despite the economic recession. Some of the companies mentioned included:

Google Inc – 350 jobs
Wegmans Food Marketing Inc. – 2,000 jobs
KPMG LLP - Thousands
Publix Super Markets, Inc. – 900 jobs
T-Mobile USA, Inc. – 2,163 jobs

As soon as I read this article I wondered if any of these companies were environmentally friendly or going in this direction. I knew some of the green consumer food product companies who were green grew despite a down economy. So I dug a little deeper to find out that I was correct. Quite a few of these companies had strong green initiatives and many were green before it became hip or “in.” Is this coincidental? My thought it isn’t. It supports the fact that people want to feel good about their purchase from a company that is socially responsible. They want to know that the company is making a difference within their company and in the community. Many of these companies are. They are looking at their triple bottom line impact.

One thing I have noticed in this economy is that businesses are adverse to change. They want to keep everything status quo, even if it is not working. Their thoughts are if it worked in the past, it should work now.

In this economy, we know this is not always the case. We need to be able to adapt to change to succeed in everything, including green. As I talked about in my last column, a couple of companies got smart and capitalized on the affordable green trend by introducing green bargain websites, sales and couponing—all appealing to more of the mainstream consumer marketplace—Drifters and conventions would fall into this mix.

They paid attention to the trends and determined how they could capitalize on them to provide a solution that the marketplace needed. Others ignore the trends and keep using strategies that worked before the economic crises, not willing to adapt to changes in consumer mentality and behavior.

As I write this blog post, I am attending the Green Meetings Industry Council Conference in Pittsburgh—a conference where I will be speaking tomorrow (as this write this post). This organization is really such a clearing house of information for everything green in the meetings industry. It is no surprise that the current research indicates green is gaining momentum in the meetings industry.

Here is some information I learned while at this conference. None of it shocked me, but merely re-confirmed what I knew…green is gaining in popularity.

• Buyers deliberately avoiding destinations know to have a poor environmental record -79% in 2008 compared to 66% in 2006

I often hear about CSR programs that are really quite creative and willing to think outside-the-box in their approach and delivery. I’d like to talk about a couple of CSR programs that offered some out of the ordinary programs:
Kimpton for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a group of upscale, boutique hotels that are very environmentally friendly. Their roots date back to 1985. Their Earthcare Program has some interesting aspects to it I’d like to talk about:

• 25% discount on hybrid parking – I found this quite unusual, especially when I paid $32/day in parking in Louisiana regardless of the type of car I drove.

• If they cannot talk meeting planners into using pitchers with water in them, they source the bottled water locally to reduce the carbon footprint.

• The newspapers that you normally receive in front of your hotel door each morning are by request only to minimize waste. I have to say I love receiving these newspapers, but understand their point to this.

American Express is another one that has some interesting corporate social responsibility measures in place:

A couple of events that I am aware of have decided to ignore green and focus on the economy. I find this a little ironic considering green has an impact and ties into the economy. Obama’s stimulus plan calls for putting money into renewable energy and creating green jobs to stimulate the economy. He gets it. Why don’t others?

When times get challenging our gut is to react by canceling programs, events, laying off workers, cutting hours, reducing budgets and so forth. Some of these things are done as “preventative measures.” Though I understand the thinking, I also feel that we become too reactionary especially when all we hear about is “how bad things are.”

Challenges in any area, especially green, drive innovation and innovation can drive change. Let me give you an example that I recently heard:

The Denver Colorado Convention and Visitors Bureau noticed that cars and buses where consistently idling in their parking lot—something I am sure all of us have done at one point or another not thinking. They noticed that 80% of the vehicles were idling for more than 10 minutes. They organized an Engines Off Anti-Idling Campaign.

To determine what message would best resonate with the drivers, they talked to them as to what would promote them to turn off their engines. Two main points they found resonated with them:

I’m continuing our discussion from our last blog post, if you didn’t read it, click here to do so.

I heard every day how companies are not spending money. Do you want to bet? Companies will spend on solutions that help ensure they are not out of business. For instance, if I were a manufacturing company, I’d spend on a green assessment to look at how more environmentally friendly my business could operate to save me money to use toward securing more business.

I’d spend on a green marketing and communications assessment helping me position my company as caring about the environment, especially if this helped me attract better talent and talent who might be healthier, keeping my healthcare costs down.

I’d spend money looking at my carbon footprint if I were rolling out a service or product that was being touted as green.

Why?

For those of you who know me or know what I’m most passionate about it’s the intersection between green and health. I feel this is the missing link, it’s the reason I speak about it regularly and created my newest speaking topic: Creating the green and health marketing balance©

It’s been a popular topic for all of my national speaking engagements including my keynotes. I would expect it will be as popular for international ones as well.

I really think it’s time for the green groups and the health groups to marry each other and combine their households.

Yet, I see few groups, organizations, companies who truly understand this marriage and that it is a match made in heaven. It only makes sense that the green side work with the health side of things. It all balances out in the end. Let me explain...

Everything we do that is moving toward being more environmentally friendly impacts our overall health and wellness. Our environment impacts the air we breathe, what we put into our bodies and so forth. Research has even shown that since 90% of our time is spent in buildings, green buildings could help companies reduce 58 billion in sick time. I heard that great statistic from L. Hunter Lovins.

Yes. I understand we are building more green buildings and many of the builders understand this. Why then aren’t more of the green business groups working with the health groups toward a common goal? Doesn’t it make sense?

As I am writing this blog post, Seventh Generation just unveiled three new natural cleaning products— Natural Fabric Softener Sheets, Auto Dish Pacs and Rinse Aid Seventh Generation Unveils Three New Natural Cleaning Products to Detoxify, Green Spring Cleaning.

In a market of economic uncertainty, they are introducing three new products that are not really a necessity for consumers. Let’s face it, we can live without dryer sheets. Sure, you’d walk around shocking everyone and looking like the bride of Frankenstein, but you don’t have to have them. Yet, here is their great way of telling you WHY you need them:

Did you know?

The European Parliament recently officially endorsed extending the EU's eco-label plan to new products, including processed food. They are one of the few to create these type of standards.

The EU assembly backed the Commission's July 2008 proposal to revise the voluntary eco-label plan with an overwhelming majority . The revised legislation aims to widen the number of products covered by the plan and reduce costs by cutting administrative red tape.

Under its eco-label plan, the Commission sets individual criteria for each product group before awarding the Community flower label.

Currently, over 3,000 products including detergents, paper and shoes have received the recognition.
Food products will not only be assessed according to their production processes, but also a lifecycle approach, including the environmental impact of transport, the agreement states. Moreover, the Commission will consider only awarding the eco-label to organic products, to make it easier for consumers to navigate the label jungle.

The Parliament refused to budge on excluding products that contain substances that are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic or otherwise hazardous to the environment.

It’s really about time we’ve seen this type of labeling happen. Hopefully, this continues to plant seeds for other countries to follow suit, especially the U.S. I agree that the more regulations we have, actually the easier it will be to market green products to consumers. You’ll spend less time proving your product is green and be able to spend more time educating and selling the consumer on why your green solution makes the most sense. I applaud the EU for creating these new standards for their eco-label.

Here is a list of other eco-labels that exist:

Although research on whether or not eco-labels effect consumer behavior is a little dated, its relevance is not. As a matter-of-fact, it is even more relevant today than it ever was considering the economic climate and the need to spend less dollars and make a green product valuable enough that customers purchase again and again.

In 2004, a Danish study analyzed the effect of the Nordic swan eco-label on Danish consumers' decision. It drew the following conclusions:

• Consumers were willing to pay 10-17% more for eco-labeled toilet paper and detergents;

• The market share for the Nordic swan labeled products is estimated to 6-7%;

• When there are more sustainable alternatives on the market, as e.g. reusable dishcloths instead of kitchen paper, consumers will not pay extra for eco-labeled products;

• Consumers have confidence in the label.

Compare this to the U.S. study by NMI in 2007:

BusinessWeek recently wrote about the 25 most innovative companies in the world. If you didn’t happen to read this article, here is what they did:

Boston Consulting Group conducted a survey that was sent to senior executives around the globe asking them to name corporations that consistently offered inventive products, customer experiences, business models, or processes. No executive could choose their own company for obvious reasons.

As I read the list of the top 25 most innovative companies, I looked for something they did not, if the companies who were the most innovative were green. Guess what I found? Most were in some way or another.

In fact, a handful were deemed innovative because of some green product, service or initiative. Both Toyota and Honda were on the list due to their hybrids, Wal-Mart for its energy-efficient stores, among other things, and IBM for its focus on the “Smart Planet”-how sensors, data analysis, computers, and networks could be joined to improve the performance of everything from transportation systems to electric grids, according to this Business Week article.

As I write this post, I am in a plane returning from the WBEC conference in Mississippi, where I keynoted. I’m in a plane full of people with no vacant seats, probably due to the reduction in flights. I attended this conference that still managed to attract and draw a crowd of $200+. How?

Not being satisfied with the number of registrations that were coming in on their own, they were proactive and called everyone personally to invite them to the conference. And I have to tell you this was one of the best conferences I ever attended. What I saw and heard was refreshing.

The Obama administration is allocating billions to subsidize the purchases of new technologies by utilities. In a BusinessWeek article, he is quoted as saying, “make our energy bills lower, making outages less likely, and making it easier to use clean energy.”

How it would work would be that smart meters would be installed on people’s homes in place of the older models. This would relay information about electricity use and price to consumers and let utilities collect usage data wirelessly without trucks or meter readers. The debate is whether or not real-time pricing will work. Will consumers be willing to pay more as others blast their air conditioning with the idea that demand would be low on a cool night and prices would be lower? Pricing could literally change per minute. Are we ready for this change?

The idea is that overall energy costs would come down even if only 20% of customers take part in the pricing and efficiency program, under PepsiCo Holdings Inc’s plan. Will it work?

There is much debate, yet my question is how will you get consumers to buy-in?

In the midst of this recession, we’re seeing a lot of trends one of them being consumers investing more than ever in their own gardens for produce to save money.

It makes sense as this is a way for consumers to save dollars and do something for the environment, especially if their garden is grown without pesticides.

Many companies are prospering because of this. Companies such as Scotts who makes gardening products and seed companies are able to capitalize and so are others. Anyone who makes a product that would contribute to building a produce garden and a green one would prosper in the economy.

Who else would?

When I was keynoting at an event recently, I learned about a company that distributes insoles that help people who stand for long periods of time relieve their back pain or any other pain for that matter. The company that distributes the insoles, Happy Feet, LLC, positions the insoles as “personal mats” for the feet.

I really thought this was an ingenious way to allow corporations to see the benefit of using these personal mats over the large mats they need to use in their factories.

If you didn’t have a chance to read my last blog post, click here. I’m continuing my discussion on Happy Feet, LLC, the company who is manufacturing one of the first “green mats” for your feet.

This owner really understood that green positioning could be used to her advantage not just from a marketing and selling standpoint, but also as a way to operate. Her company was built on more of a virtual platform as her 20 sales reps were spread out throughout the nation and worked from their homes. Once she realized more about sustainability as a platform for her business, she realized that her mindset and own beliefs really fit in well. She was already operating with a philosophy of good intentions by generously paying her people and going above and beyond for her customers. It was no wonder her business in 3 years time was on a fast track.

Upstate North Carolina has one of its first totally green homebuilders. This is new in itself, but what I found more interesting was that builder indicated the homes will not cost you more. In this economy, that is what many consumers want to hear.

These green neighborhood near downtown Greenville, called the Elements, is for multi-families something you do not see as often as single-family, green communities. Here are some of the features of these new homes:

• All the trim on the walls comes from trees that were cut down on site.

• Increased insulation resulting in a savings between 30 and 50 percent to code built homes

I often run across new companies that do not really understand the concept of sustainability and green, yet understand enough that they know it is important. They know that they want to embrace it, yet they do not really understand what it means to be green. I ran across one such company the other day who had the best intentions, but needs to better understand the concept of green before they are accused of greenwashing.

I learned of a new doctors office that was more holistically-minded and green. They were marketing these two positioning lines on their website. It was quite attractive to many consumers in a state that did not have many holistically-minded doctors and really no green medical offices such as this. When I checked out the practice, I noticed that although they had a handful of green features, there were many other things they did not embrace. They mentioned being holistic and having green furniture and carpeting, plus no VOC paint, yet when you went into the bathroom, the soap, sprays, etc. were all chemicals. There was definitely a disconnect of what being green really meant. They went so far as to invest in some green furniture and carpeting, etc., yet the simple things such as soap and cleaners were forgotten and not understood, yet they professed being totally green.

This particular business had the best intentions just as anyone else does, they just didn’t understand the concept of what green meant. They didn’t understand that eliminating chemicals was a huge component of the equation.

Could they be greenwashed?

In my last blog post, we talked about Shell being put on trial for in New York accused of playing a role in the killing of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. If you missed our discussion, see my two prior posts below this one.

In the past month, since we’ve rolled out some new green marketing assessment tools, I’ve been asked what makes companies and corporations successful in marketing green products, services or green initiatives.

The reason my company originally developed green marketing assessment tools was to help organizations, corporations and companies determine if their roll outs would be successful in the green arena. I realized quickly that everyone needed more education and then rolled out my Creating Authentic Green Value Webinar series, http://www.marketing-insider.com/secrets_of_green_brands_webinar/

There is so much to learn in this ever changing green and sustainability marketplace. One thing is for sure, though, certain rules still apply.

• Education is paramount to make customers aware of what you mean when you indicate a product, service or brand is green/sustainable. The more education, the better in my opinion.

• Knowing your customer and that not all green consumers and business think and act the same

• Knowing how to effectively position your message, when to say what, what to say in general

• Determining where you can position your company in the over-crowded green marketplace to allow it to rise above the clutter and not be one of the “me too” generations

• Knowing what else you need to work on internally to be successful in launching a green campaign and how your message should follow your greening process

• Knowing what the trends are in the marketplace, which are here to stay

What doesn’t work:

I just returned from 4 days in San Francisco. I love the west coast, but with the reduced number of flights, it seems to take a while these days. I spoke at the WBENC Conference for certified women business owners.

The conference was well-attended, in fact, they ended up with so many late registrations that they ran out of food! I guess it is a good problem to have. Although there numbers were down, they still ended up with close to 2000 attendees from all industries and an exhibit floor packed with corporate vendors. This is another conference that had me wondering if we were really in the midst of a recession. There was an event at every corner — Luncheons, breakfasts, dinners and receptions. From Wine Country receptions to senior executive receptions, food, drinks and deserts were aplenty.

When I was checking out, I spoke with the front desk person at the Hilton San Fran who indicated he had a hard time believing it was a recession as their hotel had been sold out for 3 weeks straight — 2000 rooms.

I spoke on creating authentic green value and received some great questions from the audience members on how to create it and how to get around costs when selling higher priced green projects.

I travel a good deal and while traveling, especially to new cities, I take the opportunity to explore the city, talk with working people and really get my pulse on this city. My motive is to find out:

1. How green/sustainable is this city?

2. Who is driving the efforts?

3. How are they managing during this recession?

4. Which industries have felt it more and which have felt it less?

Why is this important to me?

I posted the other day on Twitter (Twitter name:colechan), if a mayor is green yet--most of the city isn't does that equal a mayor who doesn't know how to communicate green or a city that doesn't know how to follow?

What do you think?

I am perplexed when I see this. If you read my last post you’ll notice I really like to get a pulse of a city by seeing and hearing what is happening from the people and events. I’ve seen on more than one occasion a mayor who is a strong shade of green, greening buildings for the state, yet the rest of the city is not completely buying in.

So, how does this happen and how do you prevent it from happening?

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.

Cleveland, Ohio is definitely a hub for manufacturers both large and small. On September 10th, I had the opportunity to interact with these manufacturers while sitting on a panel of other green experts specializing in sustainable operations, facilities and so forth. My area, of course, was on the trends and marketing.

There were about 90 manufacturers in attendance. I thought it was a respectable number considering it was a recession and green may have not been at the top of their business agenda. Nevertheless, they were attendance and asking some good questions of the panel.

In my last post, I talked about the Crain’s ecoSMART manufacturing panel I sat on in Cleveland that was sponsored by MAGNET.

If you missed my last post, click here.

Here is the question I asked at the end of my post. I am sure you are wanting to know the answers I didn’t have time to share, right?

Why pursue sustainability, or Eco-Smart Manufacturing, during a downturn? Is this a nice to have but not a need to have?

a. Trust is at an all-time low. Transparency is the only answer.

b. Consumers are still spending the dollars with greener products more – Deloitte did a retail strategy as well as others.

c. Green consumers will spend 20% more. Targeting them allows you to tap into the $209 billion global marketplace and $545 billion international marketplace of goods and services.

You’ve just rolled out a new natural product; let’s say it’s a lotion. It’s similar to the others using natural scents and no fillers. Prospects are not reacting the way you expected and you wonder why. Some customers are picking up your product, smelling it, then putting it down. You start to wonder if your product is as good as you think it is. You know your customers love it, you have it in stores and have been selling similar products for a while now.

In my last blog post, we discussed trusting yourself and your green and natural products. We’re continuing this discussion. If you missed this article, scroll down below this post to read it.

Other ideas to know if your product is the problem or it is your perception is to:

A. Look at your competition and see what is selling and what isn’t. Just make sure they are targeting the same audience. It should give you a sense of what customers are buying overall.

B. Survey your customers before rolling out a new product. Before you roll out a new product, unless your customers demand it, test it on them first. Ask for a sample customer group, a focus group of sorts, and tell them you will send them one of your products in exchange for providing feedback. This will save you a lot of time and energy from producing something that won’t sell.

My company often gets asked to come in and wave our magic wand to tell someone they are green or sustainable enough to print their brochure talking about it. I say this tongue and cheek because we were asked not that long ago to do this.

A company wanted to produce a brochure stating how green their products were. They wanted my company to come in and do a quick little assessment and tell them they were green enough to produce this brochure. The challenge was that they had never had any type of sustainability platform, no guiding principles, no audit on energy usage, etc., etc. Knowing this, I knew in order to be able to accomplish what they wanted, my assessment had to be even more in-depth than I normally did so that I would prevent the company and really my company (oh yes, consulting firms and agencies can be greenwashed as well) as well from being greenwashed.

As of December 1, bloggers who receive cash or in-kind payments to review a product must disclose this material connections. Celebrity endorsements will also be covered by the new rules.

According to the new rules, "both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement," the agency said.

They also have to disclose a monetary connection with a company in other situations.

"Celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media," the agency said.

This is very big news for many bloggers, but it gets back to the concept I talk about and that is so common in sustainability---authenticity. Isn’t time we are all authentic with our messages?

I’ve written about products or services before that I found I liked and never felt like someone should pay me to talk about them. I only talk about products and services that I feel warrant it. In the same respect, I mention products and services that might need some work. To me it is all about total transparency and it is how we can all learn from each other.

The FTC may be cracking down on misleading endorsements and testimonials, yet for many of us, it will be writing as usual…writing about things that really matter.

It’s really time for all us to embrace total transparency. It’s working in the sustainability world and it can work here too.

Colette Chandler

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

I took a small hiatus from blogging. I do apologize to all of my loyal readers for my absence. Dealing with some personal matters kept me away longer than anticipated.

I’m back and in full swing and devoted this first in January to becoming a green change agent.

When I decided to write on this topic, I conducted some searches on google to see what others thought about just being a “change agent.” Of course, a lot of different thoughts on the subject so I decided to focus on my own. Being a change agent means you are focused on progress and doing what you can to move things forward. So many of us, especially in this economy, live in the past or wallow in situations we cannot control.

I just listened to a workshop at an all day seminar I attended last Sunday by a very insightful man, Steve Waterhouse. His words were that the economy will continue to get challenging and the bottom will fall out again and with that comes problems. And problems need solutions that many of us can provide.

I really love his perspective. It puts you more in the driver’s seat as a change agent than as a victim. What he is talking about is being a solution provider and one that drives changes to happen. I’ll take it one step further and say that change agents know what needs to be changed, why they need to be changed and what action needs to be taken. A good change agent gathers the facts, looks at the pros and cons of every possible solution, then finds the right people to help lead the change and follow through after the change has taken place.

When you add green to the mix, you are talking about leading any sustainability efforts/changes within a company or corporation. I see more people will to be a change agent who is more of a generalist versus a specialist such as a green change agent and we really are living in a specialist’s world today.

Let’s look at this further in my next blog post. What does it take to become a green change agent.

Colette Chandler

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Becoming a green or sustainability change agent is really about understanding (strategically) how to navigate change and actively lead it. All blame and finger pointing has to be eliminated and sole focus needs to be put on leading the sustainability change.

What is essential is to “walk the walk and talk the talk.” I talk and write about this often because as the green movement continues to gain momentum, many on the sidelines want to join in so they come in as a “me too” player. “Yep, we are a green company too.” Adding little bits of green language and messaging to their website when no really initiatives are in place to drive change.

When companies decide to become sustainable/green, they take the bear the responsibility of showing their vendors, stakeholders, customers and employees how they took can become part of the solution and become more sustainable. They come up with solutions and teach others how to participate, by explaining the “whys” of the sustainability efforts. We all have to remember that sustainability does not come fast or quick to most companies. It is a process because gaining stakeholder buy in takes time. Many may not understand the need for doing it now or why it is so important. To make a change lasting, buy-in is critical. It’s why I often start with education and training with stakeholders and key management as a beginning phase of most sustainability programs I put in place for companies. Without it, any sustainability strategy will not really fly.

Now becoming a green change agent really takes companies from where they are on the sustainability scale to potentially off the scale or chart. They almost create a scale or chart of their own and potentially start a new scale or chart that is then used as the next standard. Most any company can start on the road to becoming a green change agent. I think there is room for many more to step up to the plate.

Colette Chandler

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends