Earth Day is here, along with its attendant activities, tips for being green, and stories in the mainstream press and the blogosphere. I’ve also noticed a lot of green marketing this year, with stores offering discounts on natural and/or earth-friendly products, corporate campaigns around green initiatives, and so on. Hallmark even offers online Earth Day cards (the little guy above left is from their “Have you hugged the Earth today?” card), while on Facebook you can send your friends virtual CFLs while “free” supplies last.
My Earth Day message is simple: Think. The next time you go to make a purchase — whatever it is — think about it. Think about where it came from. Think about the materials that went into it. The hands that made it. The things you are bringing to your home, your body. Think about what will happen to the item when you are finished with it, thinking again what it is made of. Think what it will do to the environment in a landfill, in the air, in the water supply. If you don’t know, find out. Think about it being refurbished or reused. Think: is this really a good product for me, for my family, for my planet.
If the product is good, go ahead and buy it with a clear conscience. Tell your friends and family about it, maybe let them try it. If it’s not good for the planet, tell your friends and family about that, too. Maybe they will remember your words the next time they are at the store, and make a better choice as a result.
Can we shop our way out of environmental catastrophe? Well, yes and no. Obviously it will take a lot more than good purchasing decisions to clean up our planet, but thinking — really thinking — about what you buy is a good starting point, especially for those who are green about being green (so to speak). Buying a greener product does make a difference. Many people buying greener products makes a bigger difference. Not only does it lower the impact on the planet, it also sends a loud and clear message to the companies that stock our shelves: We care about the planet. We care about buying products that don’t hurt it. We don’t want products that harm us, our families, and our planet.
This is what Greener One is all about, and why our team is so excited about our project: thoughts lead to action, and action leads to change. So, if you haven’t visited the main Greener One site, we invite you to come find out what makes a product green, use our toolkit to track down green facts about products, and share your green product knowledge with the Greener One community.
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June 9, 2008 at 12:42 pm |
I love the Greener One site. It is exactly what I, as a conscious consumer, needs. So often things are not black and white when it comes to..well, most everything but in this case “greener” products. I have a young family and due to layoffs and a sluggish economy in our state we have to be very careful with our money. How do we do that and still be ecologically careful? What’s best for our kids, ourselves, our neighbors, the environment, the people who produce the products we buy? The questions are endless and the answers are often unclear and complex.
The Greener One site will not only help consumers make better choices when the choices are unclear but it has the the potential to bring pressure to manufactures to push change at that level as well.
Yes, it would be ideal if we all could all be green all of the time -but that’s not the world we live in at this present moment. At this time we just need to start making changes upon informed choices -do the best we can with what we have with where we are. The Greener One site is perfect for where we are right now.
June 11, 2008 at 12:20 pm |
Amy, thank you so much for the kind words about Greener One! You hit the nail on the head about what we are trying to accomplish with the Greener One community: bringing clarity to people about the green-ness of products and demonstrating to the manufacturers that people are not only educating themselves about the issues but are also demanding transparency and change. We look forward to your contributions on the main Greener One site!