Excellent post. Not only do I agree with your POV, but I think businesses who think green will benefit financially, as well.

For example, Tom's products are packaged using recycled materials only. I know at least two people who buy their products as much for their thinking green as for the quality of the package contents--my wife and I.

Hi Ted:

I just started work for a client who is staking part of his brand platform on environmental friendliness, and it really appears to be resonating locally, considering the amount of press coverage he's been getting. His customers have been telling him that they choose his business over other local businesses because of what he has done to manage the environmental impact of his business.

The business is Wayne Auto Spa, and they've just started blogging at www.wayneautospa.com. Check it out if you get the chance. A good portion of their electricity is generated by solar panels on their roof, they recycle their waste water, and they burn waste oil from oil changes to provide heat. Those are just some of the things they've done, and more developments are on the way.

I have to say I've been very pleasantly surprised about how making responsible treatment of the environment a cornerstone value of the brand has produced a great deal of customer loyalty.

Good point, Lewis. As citizens we can show our approval for the policies of "green" businesses by buying their products. Tom's of Maine is only one natural products company that practices sustainability. There are many others who use recycled packaging and consciously use materials that are non-petro or chemically based.

Hopefully this mindset will begin to permeate the businesses who haven't gotten on board with this yet. Our dwindling, precious natural resources and our environment demand action--now.

By the way, I might mention that for those of us who want to know more about companies that are practicing sustainable business policies, ie, those who have adopted corporate social responsibility measures, the Dow Jones has a separate Sustainability Index which can be viewed at
http://www.sustainability-index.com/

Thank you for your commentary on Green Packaging. Packaging has always been a relevant concern and I am glad to hear there are companies making bio-degradable materials. I will be looking up the links and furthering my education! If you have time check out GLiving.TV . Our Network is also geared towards offering Green Knowledge for free. We produce daily LIVE Green shows-we are a broadband contemprary green lifestyle network. Thought you might want to contribute to the The Blog or The Green Report on GLiving.
Thanks again!
Jill

I understand there is concern that the Chinese use of lumber, and Asian use of wood as charcoal for home heating and cooking, is expected to deforest Asia in the next 10-20 years. And that trees are one of the major means of converting greenhouse gas CO2 back into bound carbon (wood) and free O2.

I applaud the emphasis on wood packaging over plastic -- the more carbon bound into buried oil and coal, the less is converted to greenhouse gases.

On the other hand, if you want to talk sustainable, I would like to see how the trees used for the packaging are being replaced.

I understand that more energy is expended to produce a car than most cars ever consume in fuel and lubricants. I haven't seen car makers demonstrate planting enough trees for each car to balance the CO2 produced in trucking parts around the world, generating electricity for welding and metal working and lighting workplaces and warehouses.

The emphasis on lower-toxicity packaging and living is important. But I would consider 'green' to be 'sustainable', Sustainabe for me would include every pound of carbon burned to produce and utilize a product. There should be environmental mechanisms to restore all the resources used.

Thanks to everybody for their insights and input. Very good observations, Brad. The consumption of our valuable natural resources is a big concern. Hence, we really need to find viable alternative solutions to the use of petro chemicals. As far as our forests are concerned, we need to push harder to replace the quantities of lumber we are harvesting. We can and should push harder to recycle paper for packaging on a much higher scale. Not only is this viable, but it keeps huge quantities of paper products out of our landfills. Many companies and the consuming public are going in the right direction. We have the capability to do much more along these lines. Not only in manufacturing packaging but every consumer product. For as you rightfully point out, Brad, we consume huge quantities of energy and natural resources in the manufacturing of products, and emit far too many pollutants into the atmosphere in the process.

We aren't going to achieve perfect solutions overnight, but we are on the way. The more informed we become and the harder we push as a society, the better off we'll all be.

Hi, I love reading artciles like yours! Kudos for you to keep us posted and let people know what is going on. I love the fact that you are also in the business and so aware of the environment and have a company that cares as well.

I am a woman owned Zero Waste company where I create these fun, wonderful bags out of new material that would normally go into landfills. Being a teacher and mom, I knew I had to help our children and world by creating a fun, useful product line out of scraps!

Thank you again,
merleO

www.merleo.com

Hi Ted. I saw that my friend Tom Hespos posted something on your blog about my green-minded car wash & quick lube in Wayne, NJ. So I thought I'd drop by and throw my own two cents in.

My thought is that we need to change behavior as a society. The factors driving the relatively modest change thus far have been economics, in large part. Namely, the escalating price of fossil fuels.

I don't know whether change motivated by non-economic factors would be more effective and swifter (i.e., if we focused on the idea that we need to save our planet irrespective of the cost of gasoline, would we do more sooner?).

Regardless, if we are to successfully preserve our home planet for future generations, one of the most important things we can do is help people change their behavior. First, we need to raise awareness. But that's not enough. We need to communicate ways for folks to change what they do and how they do it so they are able to help address the environmental crisis.

My own efforts have been focused on giving people a choice when they wash their car & change their oil. When they come to my business, they choose conservation over consumption.

I'd love to hear other ideas of how we can put people in a position to successfully address this issue. I'm convinced that if they are given the opportunity, they will choose to do the right thing on this topic.