As in many of my previous blog postings, I have titled them “knowing…” Although many of you may not have thought twice about this, I did this intentionally. Knowing—the act of being in the know—is really the only way to attract and retain the green and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumer and achieve positive effects of green marketing. That is why this discussion is focused around “knowing” how to reach these consumer groups offline.

If you know, you’re one step closer than other companies who base everything on an assumption—the underlying one being that this consumer group acts, behaves, thinks and makes purchases exactly the same or similar to the general, or mainstream, consumer. This is not the case, as I’ve mentioned previously. Once you read the series of my blog postings, you’ll have a little more knowledge and understand that these green and health-focused consumer groups couldn’t be more different than the mass-market consumer group.

In fact, you don’t even reach them the same way in order to achieve positive effects of green marketing.

Here are some things to consider when reaching them offline:

Selling to green and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumers starts from the beginning by gaining knowledge about what these consumers want before they ever make a purchase. If you are not familiar with this, you may want to read my previous threads. This is one of the first steps to achieving positive effects of green marketing.

Let’s start by looking at how your product was produced or manufactured.

Was it produced in an environmentally friendly manner? If so, what was the process and how was it environmentally friendly?

If you are unsure, do your homework. These consumers sure will and it’s the only way you can achieve positive effects of green marketing.

I’ve written so many articles on green and LOHAS marketing, that I thought it was time for people to really understand how to define green marketing. You may wonder why now I would be defining green marketing as opposed to defining green marketing in my first blog post.

Now is really the perfect time, especially because there is so much chatter about green marketing in the media.

Green marketing can be defined as marketing your business, brand, product and/or services in an environmentally friendly manner. There are many different ways you can be environmentally friendly or green.

Here are some of them:

I just spent the last 2 days traveling and speaking at the Maine Inn Keeper’s Lodging Management Institute workshop on green marketing for their inns. It was a whirlwind trip and well worth it.

While I was conducting my two-day workshop about green marketing, I mentioned to them that they could create an in-room guide book teaching people how to maintain their healthy, ecological (environmentally friendly) lifestyle while on the go.

You see, the most challenging thing for the eco-traveler is how to help them keep that consistent lifestyle and not have to compromise it while traveling. It is something very hard to do. We all know how we often abandon certain lifestyle habits while on the road—whether it is to indulge in that steak or eat a dessert.

Yet, it really would be much easier for the green consumer (eco-traveler) to not have to make these sacrifices at all—to have healthy, organic food options, “experience” vacations, and products that they could use that meet their lifestyle (soap, shampoo, etc.)

If you missed my last post, I discussed my trip to Maine and about connecting with the eco-traveler. I  also mentioned I’d discuss the healthy lifestyle part of the equation for the green and LOHAS consumer.

Before I go further, for those of you who are just starting to read my blog, LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a consumer who balances their personal health with their environmental concerns and concerns for society as a whole. You’ll often see me write about the LOHAS consumer in my posts so that you understand this is the consumer driving the green trends—green movement.

In this $200 billion plus LOHAS marketplace (predicted to be $420 billion in just 3 years!), there is one sector called “Healthy Lifestyles,” it encompassed organic food among other things.

This $27+ billion marketplace is the one aspect of green that companies often overlook; the second aspect is one of the other ones, “personal growth.” Personal growth is the mind, body, spirit connection for the LOHAS consumer—think yoga, fitness and weight loss.

My last two blog posts covered eco-tourism and how to help people stay healthy on the go as well as why there is this connection between green and health.

Think about it—would you want to breathe air that you knew was extremely polluted and would cause health problems? Probably not. Neither do these consumers and they also realize that their health can be impacted by their environment and what they eat.

In our research, LOHAS consumers indicated that they can control many health problems by the food that they eat. If the foods that they eat are full of pesticides, full of preservatives, and grown in soil that is polluted, will this allow them to keep their health in tip-top shape, they do not believe so. This is why there is a large connection between health and the environment and why you’ll often see green expos having a health component to them.

Here is something else to consider, if you are trying to appeal to the LOHAS consumer and green consumer, and you’re in a situation to either source locally grown food that is non-organic versus sourcing and offering nationally grown organic food, what do you do?

In my last blog posts I talked about the connection between health and green and the need to understand both to reach LOHAS consumers. This post, I wanted to concentrate on the importance of front-line training.

It doesn’t matter where I am speaking or to what industry I am talking, I seem to hear the same needs—“my staff doesn’t seem to understand how to communicate our green efforts” or “doesn’t seem to understand how to connect with the green consumer.”

Obviously, this is a challenge if you are looking to attract this consumer to your products and/or place of business. If your staff just doesn’t get it, then you’ll lose them for sure to someone else who does.

So what do you do?

In my last post, I talked about the importance of training your front line people to understand the green and LOHAS consumer. Since this is such an important subject, I’m continuing it in this post.

Once you truly understand green and LOHAS consumers, then think about what you are doing that fits in with their values and philosophies. What would keep them coming back to your facility and/or buying your products and services?

• If you serve food and beverages, are their some healthy eating options, especially organic and localized food choices?

• Are you operating in an environmentally friendly manner? Wind turbines, solar energy, low-flow toilets and shower heads (if you have that type of facility), composting, etc.?

• Are you using environmentally friendly products in your facility? Think about the soaps, lotions, hair items (if you provide them) cleaning supplies, water, etc.

• Do you use at least 30% recycled, post consumer waste paper and only when necessary? Do you print with soy-based inks?

In my last two posts, I discussed the importance of training your front-line people to understand the green and LOHAS consumer so that they stay your customer. Now that you understand the consumer and know how to ensure that their values meet yours, now it is time to communicate it to your staff.

Sometimes the communications piece is the one piece that is forgotten or neglected. Why? Because either it is thought that the staff already understands and automatically knows what it is you are doing or that it is not that important—consumers will just know.

Guess what? They won’t just know. Make it easy for them and train your staff what you are doing regularly.

Here are some ideas that you can employ:

Now that your staff is trained on how to better understand the green and LOHAS consumers and you communicated to them what you are doing in this arena, it’s time to communicate it to your customers. It’s ironic that you can come this far, then forget or neglect to effectively communicate to your customers your green essence. I often asked myself, “how could this happen?” I often found that companies fell into one of these categories:

A. They assumed that their customers already knew what they were doing.

B. They were doing it because it was part of their value system and thought communicating it was too showy.

C. They incorporated green practices out of necessity—pushed by a vendor, supplier, corporate office, marketplace, etc., and didn’t feel customers really cared about this.

Regardless of how you as a company fell into this, it’s critical that you effectively communicate what you are doing to your customers—this starts with your staff.

So now that your staff understands who these consumers are, how do you effectively disseminate this information to your customers?

Since my blog is about green and LOHAS marketing and some of the fastest growing trends, I thought I would devote this post to talking about one of the fastest growing travel trends—ecotourism.

So what is ecotourism? Ecotourism is defined by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improve the well-being of local people.” These travelers are often called geotourists or ecotourists. We also know them as LOHAS consumers or one of the most common terms, green consumers.

Ecotourism has been around for awhile, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), was launched as the first ecotourism society. To those who have been in this arena since its inception, or are LOHAS or green consumers and business people, the question is not what is ecotourism, but rather, how do I explain to people why they should care about ecotourism.

For many of the consumers, though, the question still is, “what is ecotourism.” This means that they still do not recognize or understand the term that so many people in the industry throw around. To green and/or LOHAS consumers, most of them understand the terminology, though, not all, depending on where you are located.

As I write this, Starbucks just announced that it Improved its Lattes, Rewards its Customers, Fights Global Warming, etc. As a part of this effort to have greater transparency and dip its toe into the social networking arena—it launched www.starbucksidea.com .

If you go to this site, you’ll see that what Starbucks really wants is feedback for how it is doing overall. And trust me, they are receiving it on everything from being more green to how to offer a better customer experience.

What have they done?

They have become transparent as a corporation—something that I feel is rare, though, on the rise in corporate America. With greater transparency comes real solutions offered by your most precious investment—your customers—the people who make our break your establishment.

I come from a state that hasn’t been the most progressive, yet is a great place to raise a family. Yet, I was surprised to read the headlines in my local paper that my state, Ohio, ranks 44th in spending on public health. Apparently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention spent more per capita on Alaskans than any other Americans in the fiscal year 2007. Ohioans received $15.08 per head compared to Alaskans at $69.76 per head—quite a difference.

In 2007, the federal government cut CDC money to $5 billion, a 5 percent drop from the year before, according to what I read. This creates quite a gap in the nation’s ability to promote health among Americans.

Why am I telling you this?

If you have been following my blog posts, you’ll notice that within the consumer group driving the green trends, LOHAS consumers, there is a strong focus on health. Additionally, staying healthy has always been a top level concern for many Americans. With this in mind and knowing federal dollars have been cut, it presents opportunities for private groups/companies to step up and take the reins to promote better health among Americans.

In my last post, I talked about the recent drop in CDC money allocated to public health in Americans. I do not mean to single out Americans for my overseas readers, but this is a real issue that I feel needs to be addressed. People are living longer and developing conditions that we haven’t seen before. In the same respect, people are not getting any healthier, especially Americans. Hence, the need for funds dedicated to public health.

With all of this in mind, I mentioned in my previous post that this presented opportunities for businesses to provide services to help educate people toward prevention, something greener consumers are most interested in. Obesity, one of the nation’s leading health problems is also a top-level concern of LOHAS consumers and often the root of conditions such as Diabetes.

In my last two posts, I talked about the lack of funding in public health and the need for additional funding. The reason I devoted so much time and space to this issue is because it affects everyone including the people driving the green trend. These consumers are the most concerned about their health, seek prevention-type solutions, are concerned with being overweight, and look for options to stay healthy on-the-go.

So then, if the market exists and people want these solutions, why is there this built in discrepancy within our system I keep asking myself? Why do we keep hearing prevention, yet it is not happening?

Because it takes more than talk to change behavior and it takes targeting the right audiences first to get through to the masses. Take the most likely audience to focus on prevention—LOHAS consumers, the greenest consumers of them all.

How many companies really know who they are, what they want and how to target them?

I look at many health initiatives of many companies and realize that they are totally ignoring this consumer group that is most likely to be their best customers. Why? It is because they are often the most misunderstood group and one that is lifestyle-driven.

Bike-sharing programs that have transformed Europeans into two-wheeled travelers are now coming to the U.S, courtesy of Clear Channel Outdoor, an outdoor advertising company.

They’ll launch the country’s first bike-share service in Washington, D.C., next month in partnership with the district’s Department of Transportation. SmartBike DC will initially offer annual subscribers access to 100 bikes at 10 stations in the city’s central business district. Other cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, are eager to follow suit. This was reported in MSN.

Bike sharing is an old concept that really helps ease inner city traffic congestion, curb pollution, and boost physical activity. It’s truly a green concept that most any company can get their hands around, not just Clear Channel.

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?

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?

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.

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.

Today was the first group marketing coaching call I conducted for my Consumer Trends & Profits Homestudy Course. I offer five months of these group coaching calls as a part of this program as well as two, half-hour consultations via phone.

This first call focused on understanding the trends and knowing your target market. What I made sure of on the call was that I addressed all of the various industries that I knew where represented—lodging, resort, coaching, retail, healthy products, and so forth.

I wanted to make sure that I addressed as many industries as possible. I also wanted to make sure that I explained why I was talking about the NOMADICS© consumer or the mainstream consumer. The reason I explained is because my Course is designed to teach people how to communicate your value and effectively market to green and LOHAS consumers with ease. Yet, I had one person who left one of my teleseminars the other day because she heard me mention NOMADICS© and she thought I was ignoring the LOHAS consumer when in fact I was putting everything into perspective.

Why am I telling you this?

As I write this post, I am in the airport in Florida waiting for my flight back home after speaking at Florida’s Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau Conference. As I look around me in the Gainesville airport, I see the renovation that is going on. Although I have not seen signs to this regard, I hope that Gainesville, like many other facilities, is renovating green.

As a consumer, sitting in the middle of this construction, I am concerned about breathing in the fumes, etc. from the construction process. It would be nice to know that I do not have to worry about that.

Am I alone? I think not.

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.

I recently was connected with an organization that really gets it. They understand what I call the ‘missing link between green and health.” They understand that sustainability and health really should go hand-in-hand. To whom am I referring?

Healthy Together, an organization out of Florida, specifically, Tampa Bay. This organization is about creating healthy communities, creating work-like wellness programs and understanding the link between health and the environment.

This is one of the few organizations I have seen that understands this missing link and they are doing something about it to truly create a difference. Other organizations and companies can do the same thing by just taking a step in the right direction.

Here are some suggestions:

1. When planning any events, think about how you can incorporate healthy, local cuisine. Think about not only the planetary aspect of reducing waste and using biodegradable/reusable products, but also the health implications—toxins emitted into the area, etc.

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.

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.

At the end of October, I will be speaking at ONEgroup’s conference.

Who is ONEgroup?

They are a certified, organic, skincare company based out of Australia, with reps spread out throughout the world. This company is one that really gets the fact that their reps need to have knowledge of how to sell organic products and understand the consumer driving the organics trends.

Of course they know their products, they also know that there reps need to be armed with a total understanding of how to move organic products, especially in a down economy.

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.

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.

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 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.

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?

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:

I just read an interesting article talking about lead poisoning threatening adults. We hear more about lead poisoning related to children, but this is one of the few articles mentioning its link toward adults. It does make sense, though, that anyone subjected to it at higher levels could have negative impacts on the body. What I found even more interesting, though, was this lead poisoning prevention diet.

Has anyone heard of this?

The article indicated that diets rich in calcium and iron help resist the damage from lead.

Apparently, a child (I would think an adult as well) with an iron deficiency can absorb up to 50% more lead than one with adequate iron in the diet. Good sources of iron include fortified cereals, meat, legumes, prunes, raisins and green leafy vegetables, and iron is best absorbed by the body if consumed with foods high in vitamin C.

Similarly, as calcium intake increases, the body absorbs less lead, so diets high in calcium are important for children exposed to lead.

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.

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?

There is growing evidence suggesting that how people think and feel is being influenced by the transformation of our ecosystem relating to climate change and industry-related displacement from the land. What is interesting is that these stressors are occurring more frequently around the world according to a research study conducted by the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

When they conducted interviews in drought-affected communities in New South Wales in 2005, the responses suggested some of their subjects may have been suffering from a psychological condition called solastalgia (pronounced so-la-stal-juh).

I’m continuing our discussion from my last blog post on the mental affect of climate change. If you did not have a chance to read my last blog post, click here.

In Eastern Australian communities, where the toll of a six-year-long drought has been devastating, interviews with farmers provided additional momentum for the solastalgia concept.

In one such interview, a female farmer poignantly described the loss of her garden oasis. “Our gardens have had to die,” she said, “because our house dam has been dry…. So it’s very depressing for a woman because a garden is an oasis out here with this dust…you know, to come home to a nice green lawn is just… that’s all gone, so you’ve got dust at your back door, ” according to this same article.