According to the annually released National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS), “Americans’ appetite for environmentally friendly technologies and consumer products is grossly underserved, with a potential $104 billion in sales this year. The annual survey — sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and technology research firm Rockbridge Associates Inc. — found that 71 percent of adults are interested in green technology, but there is a large gap between the number of products consumers own now and the number they say they would like to own.

The $104 billion market opportunity represents the annual sales potential of the 11 product categories measured in the NTRS. More than half, $54 billion, is the potential for sales of eco-friendly vehicles, including high-mileage, hybrid fuel, biofuel, and alternative-fuel vehicles. Researchers measured respondents’ interest levels for each of the eco-friendly product categories and calculated market value based on average selling prices.

“The key to tapping this huge potential market is targeting and appropriately addressing the green consumer,” said P.K. Kannan, director of the Center for Excellence in Service. “Our research found that green technology trends are led by a small, yet powerful group of influencers that actively act as evangelists to a secondary group of adopters.”

The NTRS classifies respondents into six segments based on their commitment to green technologies, their influence on others on being green, their skepticisms about green and their interest in technology. The survey finds that those most committed to the environment — 10 percent of adult consumers — are also very enthusiastic about technology. These “green tech leaders” are the same consumers who are often approached by others for advice on technology and the latest gadgets and devices. The researchers urge marketers to target this segment when introducing green products and services.

“There is a great opportunity for firms to not only target these green tech leaders to adopt their eco-friendly products and services, but also use them to get the word out,” Kannan said. “This market segment tends to be younger, heavier users of online social media and more enthusiastic about technology in general. They write blogs and advise others, and they also create a strong social networking effect that is critical for diffusing green technology to the larger market.”

“Marketers also need to be mindful of their message,” said Charles Colby, president of Rockbridge Associates. “Consumers are quite sensitive to companies that don’t follow through on their promises. Firms that misrepresent or exaggerate the benefits of their eco-friendly technology may find it backfires with consumer hostility or rejection.”

2007 NTRS Findings

- 83 percent of adults want to preserve and protect the environment

- 42 percent of adults said products and services that help the environment are hard to find

- 59 percent of adults say they like trying new technologies that help the environment

- 56 percent of adults say gadgets designed to help the environment would be fun to own

- 68 percent of adults like to do business with companies that are environmentally responsible

- 72 percent of adults say they resent companies who say they care about the environment but are not sincere

Eco-Friendly & Fair Labor Clothing
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Hewlett-Packard’s new Chief Marketing Officer may be seeing green. Michael Mendenhall, in an interview with Advertising Age, mentioned that the computer giant recently brought in an ad agency that may have the role of helping HP communicate its eco-friendliness to consumers.

Although Mr. Mendenhall, coming from a 17-year stint at Walt Disney Co. Parks and Resorts, made no comment as to what the new agency will be doing he did make some comments at a conference sponsored by the Economist that might give us some insight. At that conference Mr. Mendenhall made mention of some of the hottest trends in marketing, one of which was sustainability and suggested that a company could not simply call itself “green” or “eco-friendly” simply because they buy carbon credits.

Before we go any further we’ll have to add that it is nice hear that a person in a marketing position agrees that greenwashing by simply throwing money to a carbon credit company does not equal sustainability. It may make you feel better about dumping toxins into the environment but it is not sustainability – it is the developed world sluffing sustainability off to the peripheral economies of the world. And frankly, if you are in a position to lead the “greenification” of your company buying carbon credits should never be on your list of strategies. It is not a long term strategy and will fail to generate any of the cost-savings or increased profitability that often accompanies those that are successful at executing authentic sustainability efforts.

Jacquelyn A. Ottman, an advisor at Sustainable Life Media suggests that many companies try to tout their green processes but that it would be far more productive to put products in the spotlight. She points to campaigns such as BP’s Beyond Petroleum and GE’s Ecomagination. Each of these campaigns, she argues, “demonstrate the power of a product-centered campaign to help position a company as socially responsible, a progressive leader, and an innovator.
Ottman continues by providing some strategy direction for companies -
“When you are strategizing for your company’s green campaign, keep in mind that:

-Products and their marketing are highly visible to the public. Evidence of eco-innovative products can ignite enthusiasm and commitment of the public, media, employees, investors and shareholders

-An estimated 75% of the impact a product throws off during its lifetime is determined at the design stage; read: it is in the purview of the business that develops it. Sometimes that impact can span several generations

-Polls show that Americans express their concern for the environment primarily through their product-related behavior - looking for eco-labels, turning lights off, or recycling at the curb - and less so, writing letters to congressmen or donating to environmental causes

So ensure that consumers will resonate with your organization’s efforts by helping them see true environmental benefits in the products or services you purvey. As part of this, empower them to consumer your product responsibly - show them how to reduce the consumption of natural resources during use by providing feedback, such as Toyota does with the fuel mileage meter that’s onboard every Prius, or making it easy for them to recycle products at the end of their life.”

Interesting insight as long as it is not interpreted as “Sell eco-friendly products rather than being energy star rated”. I don’t think that is what she is saying. The casual green consumer is most attracted to products but the more dedicated green consumer, I think, does take into consideration the operations of a company when looking to spend some money. I think that her strongest point is that consumers can really get excited about cool eco-products. Like the solar roof tiles, handheld wind turbines, or eco-friendly pesticides. The best way to start a move to more eco-friendly products and processes is with your product development team and supply chain people - not with marketing.

Eco-Friendly & Fair Labor Clothing
http://www.sattlerclothing.com 

Interesting video with Scott Lee, CEO Walmart

Procter & Gamble Co., (P&G) has been working on a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by 40% by the year 2012. Even better news is that it has reportedly already reduced it by 30% with four more years to go on its goal. The world’s largest consumer product goods company has discovered something about green product marketing that has been one of the founding principles of Sattler Clothing. The product must not compromise on performance or quality. According to P&G’s research the “greenness” of the product is a factor for only 5 to 10% of consumers. So products that are green but fall short of current performance standards and product usage are likely to fail in the marketplace. Green innovations must provide added benefit to the shopper and meet P&G sustainability guidelines. Sad but true.

What are P&G’s “green” products

Tide Coldwater

Introduced in 2005. According to P&G, if every US family used cold water the nation’s household energy consumption would be cut by 3% - or 34 million tons of carbon dioxide per year – and consumers would save an average of $63 on utilities.

Pampers

P&G reduced the diaper weight by 40% over the past 20 years and cut back on packaging by 70%.

Len Sauers, VP Global Sustainability at P&G, says the effort has encouraged a more “holistic” approach to product development and that the company is determined to develop $20 billion of “sustainable innovation” products by 2012.

Going to finish with a quote from Paul Fiorelli, director of the Center for Business Ethics & Responsibility at Xavier University, - “I don’t think it’s a trade-off. Creative people can think of ways of doing things that help the company but also help promote sustainability.”

Amazing new product of the week
Now this is cool. Wendy Chua, 21, and Gabriel Tan, 23, have developed an eco-friendly, waterless washing machine. Both are students at the National University of Singapore and said they were inspired by the technology in air purifiers which uses negative ions (natural cleaning agents) to clump dirt and bacteria and then suck it out. The sleek, compact design is modeled after a waterfall, a natural generator of the negative ions. The Straits Times quoted Chua as saying that “It’s not meant to replace the traditional washing machine, but it’s more a hybrid of the washing machine and the dry cleaner.”

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Read the Gadget Blog article 

Next month (October) UK mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse is set to launch a mobile phone charger that stops consuming power the minute the phone is fully charges rather than staying connected and continuing to pull electricity from the socket. According to the company, 95% of energy used by all mobile phone chargers is wasted. The new charger could save consumers millions and cut CO2 emissions by 250,000 tonnes – the same amount of energy it takes to heat 54,000 homes for an entire year.

Living in San Francisco? The Green Zebra is the green version of the local entertainment coupon booklet. A coupon book and resource guide the Green Zebra guide provides savings for anyone who wants to shop sustainably. Just like the out-on-the town coupon booklets that we are all familiar with, the Green Zebra guide can also be used as a fundraiser for schools or organizations and has a really easy and profitable fundraising program. The Green Zebra is an awesome concept that exposes the broader community to sustainable products in their area. Now we just need to convince them to take it outside of SF! If anyone knows of anything similar outside of SF let me know. Check it out.

Looks like Park City, Utah is going green. Tom Bakaly, the city manager of this ski resort town in northern Utah, created a Sustainability Team comprised of 2 groups; a Sustainability Visioning Team and a Sustainability Implementation Team. Bakaly also appointed two full-time individuals to execute the town’s sustainability objectives. Alison Butz and Phyllis Robinson accepted the positions of Envrionmental Affairs and Project Manager and Community and Public Affairs Managers respectively. The two will now join Patrick Putt, the Planning Director and third member of the Sustainability Visioning Team. The efforts come as part of the town’s effot to reflect community priorities and City Council goals relating to ‘creating a sustainable community’. No real clear objectives appear to be delineated quite yet other than providing a consultative role to the community and City Council as to the impact of City actions and initiatives. Now they just need an eco-friendly clothing store on this street somewhere.

Of the 800 certified LEED projects to date only 50 are retail but Best Buy is trying to change that. In its annual sustainability report released in June of this year Best Buy stated that beginning mid-2008 the company intends to build only eco-friendly stores certified by the USGBC through LEED. (LEED = Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - a program that gets the nod from many eco-activists for its tough standards and inspections that is administered by the USGBC) Since mid-2006 20 retailers including Best Buy, Starbucks, Target, Lowe’s and others have been working with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to create a new bulk certification program. The new program would allow chain stores to get prototype buildings of the chain certified rather than each individual location. The USGBC could then conduct random surprise visits to test the quality controls and energy efficiency of each location. In addition to getting LEED certified Best Buy plans to increase use of reusable containers by 30%, retrofit 20% of its 650 stores with dimmable, zonable ceramic metal halide lights, and recycle 75,000 tons of cardboard,1,800 tons of plastic, 15,000 tons of consumer electronics and 27,500 tons of appliances before the end of the fiscal year.
A good year for Best Buy that also wrapped up a consumer electronics recycling grant program earlier this year. Sharp launched their own similar program that will recycle your old television for free with the online purchase of a new LCD TV no smaller than 37 inches and no smaller than the size of the screen to be recycled. Want to see your office or building go green? Get LEED certified.