Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The Earth





Over the last few days, I have had the opportunity to sit with some pretty influencial folks in the package good industry (both manufacturers and retailers) about making their products more earth friendly.

I was not suprised that most of them where not discussing this due to the goodness of their heart but looking at using green as way to make more green. There is nothing wrong with that, we are all having business for the purpose of making money.

During the course of the conversation a seasoned marketing executive raised the following point, "What is in it for us? The cost is more and our marging becomes less. Our consumers will not pay $1.99 for this product that they currently pay $1.29, how do we tell the consumers that they need to pay more to play in the sand box called Earth?"

All I could tell them was tell the consumers the following, "We have not inherited the world from our forefathers -- we have borrowed it from our children".

So my question is the following?

A. Would you pay more to save the earth?
B. Would you support/invest in companies that have a a better enviroment record?
C. Do you believe the Earth belongs to the current generation or to the future generation?

In the end there is no right or wrong answer....

Some sites to consider are
A. Global 100
B. Sustainable Business
C. United Nations for Sustainable Development

1 comment:

ZenDenizen said...

Funny, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, too since marketing campaigns and in store displays touting earth friendly benefits are hard to avoid. Honestly, I just find the message annoying even though I believe in the concept.