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 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:

U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved the $787 billion stimulus package containing a measure that would allow renewable energy developers to seek grants directly from the U.S. government. Much of their financing now is linked to tax credits that are nearly impossible to sell because of the banking crisis.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the bill as I write this blog post and send it to the President.

Wind power has grown rapidly in recent years in the United States, with more than 24,000 megawatts of capacity in operation, or about 1 percent of the total power supply. Solar power is far less than that, but has been growing at 40 to 50 percent per year.

What does this mean?

We all hear it—the daily doom and gloom. Yesterday, tired of the irresponsible journalism, I commented on an article indicating that “anecdotal” evidence support the idea that suicide will be on the rise. Tell people that enough and they will believe it.

In the same respect, we are often hearing about the new economic stimulus package that supports greener technology, building and the creation of green jobs.

So is there any merit that creating green jobs will help us out of this economic situation?

I agree with Larry Cohen, the president of Communications Workers of America (CWA), that green job creation will create a more sustainable future for the long run. The job growth potential is also amazing. According to a recent report conducted by the Center for American Progress, a $100 billion green investment nationwide could create two million jobs in just two years. These green jobs are union jobs requiring “green training” to complete them.

Cohen tells an interesting story about one of his IUE-CWA union members, Cobasys in Springboro, Ohio. “Shawn, an employee at Cobasys, manufactures hybrid car batteries. With increased demand for energy-efficient vehicles and a commitment by Cobasys to invest in U.S. production, the company has been able to grow from 6 to almost 200 employees over the past 10 years.”

If we get more companies to follow this lead and the economic stimulus dollars go to the companies who could create more green jobs in the U.S. to help create this sustainable system, I think we have a good chance. I would just want to be sure that the money that is awarded for green job creation requires companies to follow an established protocol to ensure the dollars are invested wisely and they stay in our neck of the woods (in the U.S.). Of course, we want to prevent too much government mingling in private industry, yet we want to ensure that no more dollars get wasted by irresponsible companies.

What do you think the answer is? Email me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends

Colette Chandler