The Green Fad

Recently there have been a lot of grumblings in the world of deep greens that ‘being green’ is now a fashion statement rather then a sincere desire to do something good for the earth. As a result, more and more companies are jumping on the green band wagon after quickly applying a cloak of green washing.

I agree. “Being green” is now more fashionable then ever. Heaven forbid you are caught using an incandescent light bulb when a Compact Fluorescent one would do! I also expect that the sales of items such organic cotton clothing would sky rocket if they could find a way to fashionably put the label on the outside of the garment so everyone can see the green badge of honour.

I also agree that this market opportunity has resulted in a wave of green washing and people disingenuously embracing the green world. Too bad.

If a fashion statement results in the sale and usage of a truckload of CFL bulbs, I think that is great. If organic, local [insert green attribute here] items are purchased purely to ‘look green’, okay. Even though there is not much green sincerity at the root of these purchases, at least they were purchased and hopefully used, thereby making the green economy stronger for those who are sincerely green.

On the topic of green washing. Yup, that happens. However, for those who are sincerely green, they quickly see through it and are not fooled. For those that are “fashionably green” and might not bother to look beyond the green veneer, by next week they will be on to the next fad. Not the strongest market segment to build a business on.

So, the deep green folk have a point, not everyone on the green bandwagon is sincerely green. However, at least they are there!