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BUYING GREEN: A COMPLEX LANDSCAPE FOR CONSUMERS

Jenny Mish Assistant Professor, Marketing Mendoza College of Business

GREEN SUMMIT IV: PURCHASING POWER University of Notre Dame Office of Sustainability February 25, 2011

Overview

  What is sustainability?   Consumer purchasing power

 Confusing information landscape  Signs that it will improve

  Resources   An invitation

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What is sustainability? “The ability to meet today’s global economic, environmental, and social needs without compromising the opportunity for future generations to meet theirs.”

--World Commission on Environment and Development (aka Brundtland Commission), 1987

  A normative ideal   Increasingly practiced   Practice is ahead of theory

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Many versions: •  People, planet profits •  Equity, economics, ecology •  Triple bottom line

Complex Interconnected Issues

 Energy/Oil  Water  Global warming  Species extinctions  Poverty  Happiness

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Quality of Life   Research on well-being has consistently shown that

beyond a certain minimal income level, increased income does not correlate with higher quality of life

A few resources:   No Impact Project: http://noimpactproject.org/

  Movie, book, & social network based on a journalist’s experiment to live as sustainably as possible in Manhattan for one year

  Books:   Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollen   Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, by Barbara Kingsolver

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Albert Einstein:

 We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

 Experiential learning necessary

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Exchange

Use Disposition

Production

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Full- Cycle

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Many company commitments to social and environmental sustainability A few examples: Wal-Mart: Zero waste, 100% renewable energy, all

sustainable products Dial: green cleaning for healthcare facilities Patagonia: 100% recyclable clothing USPS: “Cradle-to-cradle” envelopes Body Shop: no animal testing Starbucks: Fair Trade coffee IBM: sustainability consulting

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Consumer Purchasing Power Has supported many niche markets

Greenwashing

FTC’s Green Guides revised 2010  Filed 9 new claims against companies   http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.library.nd.edu/pqdweb?did=2172195201&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=11150&RQT=309&VName=PQD

--TerraChoice Seven Sins of Greenwashing Report 2009 http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/the-seven-sins/

Product Information A few of many sources:

 Ecolabelindex.com  GreenwashingIndex.com  Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles:

http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint/  Green Restaurant Association: www.dinegreen.com/  Green Money Journal: www.greenmoneyjournal.com

 Green Burials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acibku26c3Q&feature=related

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Shopping guides

A few of many:  Green America

www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/

 New American Dream www.newdream.org/

 MARCs Movement: www.marcsmovement.com/

  >100 iPhone Apps:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/more-than-100-iphone-apps-for-green-shopping-eating-travel-and-fun.php

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Environmental toxins

 Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org/  National Geographic

  Pollution Within (reports on body burden; toxic homes):   http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/10/toxic-people/duncan-text.html

 Women’s Voices for the Earth http://www.womenandenvironment.org/newsreports/issuereports

  Reports on cosmetics, nail salons, disinfectants, face paints, children’s bath & personal care

 Books   Planet Home, by Hollender and Zissu   Naturally Clean, by Hollender, Davis, and Hollender

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How unsustainability works (in a nutshell)

 Story of Stuff www.storyofstuff.com/  Also the story of electronics, bottled water, cosmetics,

cap & trade

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Business news and examples

 www.greenbiz.com  Nike (see their sustainability report)  WalMart http://walmartstores.com/sustainability/   Interface Carpets (see Ray Anderson on YouTube)  TerraCycle www.terracycle.net/  Pioneering mavericks:

  Ben & Jerry’s, Body Shop, Whole Foods, Patagonia, Equal Exchange, Seventh Generation, Organic Valley, Shore Bank

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Green Jobs

How to Find a Green Job: http://www.grist.org/article/apply-yourself/ Net Impact: http://www.netimpact.org Green job listings:

http://www.eco.ca www.idealist.org www.greenjobs.com www.sustainablebusiness.com www.solaraccess.com www.greenbiz.com/jobs www.ecojobs.com www.environmentalcareer.info

Assessing information quality

  Corporate ad campaigns   Greenwashing?   Organizational alignment?

  Top leadership commitment?   Systemic change goals?   Transparent reporting about progress?   Long-term partnerships with NGO stakeholders?

  News sources   Financial interests?   Substantiated claims (ie. Blogs, tweets, emails, etc.)?

  Does it help you understand total social, environmental, and economic impacts?

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What are you most curious about?

  “Ask more of business”   "Activism is the rent I pay for living on this

planet." (Alice Walker )   “The future depends on what we do in the

present.” (Mahatma Gandhi)   "What you do may seem insignificant, but

it is very important that you do it" (Gandhi)

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Thank You