Laura’s Blog

Renewable. Recyclable. Biodegradeable. Sustainable. Compostable. Natural. Fair Trade. Healthy. Environmental Stewardship. Green.

They’re marketing’s top buzz words. Sales of organic products were expected to top $20 billion last year, up from $10 billion in 2003.

Convinced that green is here to stay, marketers are scrambling to find attention-grabbing ways to get the environmentally conscious to buy green and only green—and to convert those who haven’t yet joined the eco-chic bandwagon.

Marketers are discovering that “Save the Planet” doesn’t work as a tactic for convincing people to buy green. Most people’s brains can’t encompass the idea of saving the entire planet—we think, “I’m just one person. Will switching from bottled water to filtered tap water really make a difference, in the large scheme of things?

Instead, marketers are relying on the tried-and-true tactics they’ve always used: they’re appealing to the consumer’s self-interest.

I’ll use one of our clients, Washington Tree & Lawn Care, as an example of how this works. Washington Tree & Lawn Care professionally applies fertilizer and disease/insect control sprays to their customers’ lawns, trees, shrubs, and home perimeters. They are the front-runners in developing and perfecting applications that use either conventional products, organic products, or a combination of both.

They don’t tell their customers: “Switch to organic and save the earth.” That’s because many of their customers prefer to use the same conventional insecticides they’ve always used. Many of their new customers, however, request the “natural” program. And some prefer a blend of traditional and organic applications.

Instead, they appeal to their customers’ self-interest by tailoring their services to each individual’s needs:

• They conduct a free analysis of your yard and make recommendations based on the type of vegetation you have.
• They don’t require you to sign up for a program; you can mix-and-match applications to your heart’s content.
• Once you become a customer, their technicians will stop by at your request to troubleshoot problems…again, for free.
• They’ve been in business since 1948 and know pretty much everything there is to know about fertilizer, weed ’n feed, and insecticides.

Those qualities—not the fact that I will be doing my part to save the earth—are what motivate me to consider trying their services.

What about you? What motivates you to buy green?

How Do I Know It’s Green?

Check out these helpful sites:

Greenwashing Index
www.greenwashingindex.com
An interactive forum that allows you to evaluate advertisements that make environmental claims.

Environmental Working Group
www.ewg.org/
Evaluates consumer products and recommends ones to avoid, based on chemicals & other unhealthy ingredients.

EcoLogo
www.ecologo.org
Certifies “green” products in more than 120 categories.

Green Seal
www.greenseal.org
Promotes the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and services.

Energy Star
www.energystar.gov
A joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that promotes energy-efficient products and practices.