Many smart shoppers are talking about eco-clothing these days. People are becoming increasingly aware of materials used in the products they buy, and how they are manufactured. Designers are looking for ways to incorporate materials from sustainable resources.

Eco clothing lines are those which are designed in such a way as to maintain harmony with nature.

Consumers should be on the lookout to support products that are organic, recycled, and created with as little waste as possible. Once the demand for an alternative product increases, manufacturers have no choice but to make more of it.  Many modern consumers are looking for products with small carbon footprints.

But currently, eco-clothing has a relatively small market share in the fashion industry and it might take a few more years before it goes mainstream. It is more expensive than typical clothing, but one advantage it has over the average clothing is that eco-clothing is stronger, higher quality, and generally lasts longer.

There are different types of eco clothing. Most of them are made from natural materials, such as organic cotton, soy, bamboo, leather alternatives, and a lot more.

Bamboo fabric is one type of material used in eco-clothing. It is a natural textile, made from the pulp of the bamboo. It is both strong and light at the same time, which makes it a viable alternative fabric, for clothing use.

When it has not been spun yet, bamboo fiber looks a lot like cotton. Bamboo grass can grow without the use of insecticides, and it can grow fast. The process of making bamboo fiber doesn’t require chemicals or bleaches that can harm the environment.

Bamboo also grows very quickly, so that it is replaced very soon after it is harvested.  Since any living plant produces oxygen, a  plant that grows back quickly after being cut down is good for helping maintain oxygen levels in the environment.

Another type of eco clothing is clothing made from organic cotton. It is just like regular cotton except it is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The process of growing organic cotton has a low impact on the environment; it replenishes well, and its soil maintains fertility. Acceptance of organic cotton is growing, and more cotton farmers are now switching to organic methods.

Recycled fleece is used to create another type of eco clothing. This fabric is made from recycled soda bottles. Though it is not a natural fiber, it is considered environment-friendly because it’s made from recycled materials. Recycled fleece is used to make outerwear, soft-soled baby shoes, and diaper covers.

These are just a few of the different types of eco clothing currently available on the market.  There are still other types of eco clothing out there.

When you’re shopping, make sure to check clothing labels to see what your new garments are made of. If you want to be socially and environmentally responsible, buying and using eco-clothing is the right thing to do.

The eco-conscious consumer knows a thousand ways to be green: take the bus to work, turn lights off when you leave the house, and of course, compost and recycle. Recycling initiatives are on the rise in communities around the world, but individual programs are only part of the solution. Waste, and the potential gains from recycling, are far higher in the commercial and industrial sectors than in the residential one. For example, the production of one car creates 8000kg of raw material residue, according to the United Nations Environmental Program.

Consumer companies differ in how well they’ve embraced sustainability initiatives. A new website, GoodGuide.com, rates products and companies on environmental, health, and social criteria. Using over 200 data points, they produce a 0-10 rating on the sustainability of over 62,000 products. Focusing on just a few of those data points gives a view into the most proactive companies:

Best Companies on Recycled Materials – This list orders companies based on their commitment to use or manufacture recycled materials. Many of the companies on this list are food companies: Chiquita Brands, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and the Heinz Frozen Food Company.

Best Companies for Carbon Footprint – Food companies also top this list of companies with the lowest contribution to global warming. Bob Evans Food, Nestle, and Dreyer’s Ice Cream are all in the best list.

In addition to environmental responsibility, companies are also accountable to their customers and employees. GoodGuide provides ratings on these qualities as well:

Best Family Friendly Companies – Companies are rated on whether it provides day care services or extra maternity leave beyond the legal minimum, and whether the company has won a family-friendly prize like a Working Mother Award. Perhaps surprisingly, big drug companies top this list: Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline score very well.

Best Companies for Retirement Benefits – When companies are rated according to their retirement benefits programs, there are some well-known standouts: the 3M company, makers of Scotch Tape, and California Pizza Kitchen.

Consumers are often looking for the best way to make a positive impact on the environment. Starting recycling programs in homes and communities is a great start. Another good step: Buying from companies who have programs that you believe in.

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When you recycle your toner cartridge, you preserve the environment while lessening the toll of printing costs on your pocketbook as well.

Reusing, Recycling, and Using Self-Refill Kits

These days, throwing your toner cartridge in the trash is not just a waste; it’s like throwing money away while unnecessarily filling landfills at the same time.

The best alternative to throwing your toner cartridges out is to recharge them with new toner.

Manufacturers can also replace the drums and other important parts of the cartridge.

Some retail shops accept trade-ins for spent toner cartridges, when you purchase a new one from them. These cartridges are then refilled so that they can be sold at discounted prices. Self-refill kits are also available.

Depending on the type of toner cartridge you use, there are many different refill kits available. These kits make recycling toner cartridges simple and cheap.

Most refill kits come with instructions, and the toner is contained inside a plastic bottle. You won’t need any special tools other than a smoldering iron.

How to Recycle Your Own Toner Cartridge

Here are four basic steps you can take to recycle your own toner cartridge:

1. Remove the toner cartridge from the printer.
2. Using the soldering iron, carefully burn a small hole into the cartridge casing, without damaging the casing. Do not employ a drill to create the hole, as it can cause miniscule pieces of plastic to fall inside the cartridge’s chamber.
3. Pour the toner in through the fill-hole. Note that manufacturers recommend not filling the chamber completely, especially if a cartridge has been used multiple times.
4. Seal the hole with tape once you’ve poured the appropriate amount of toner into the cartridge.
5. Take care when handling the toner, as it can damage clothing, furniture, the carpet, etc. Further, many toners are hazardous; take necessary precautions by wearing gloves, and keep the toner out of reach of children.

Due to their non-biodegradable nature, most toner cartridges end up in landfills.  But if you recycle your toner cartridges, or buy re-manufactured ones, you can help eliminate waste and save on landfill space.  And that saves on disposal costs as well. Purchasing re-manufactured toner cartridges, on the other hand, allows you to avoid messes. These are available from your local office supply, and at specialty stores.

Additionally, some retailers, upon delivering your newly purchased re-manufactured cartridges, will pick up your old toner cartridges. Over the last few years, toner cartridge re-manufacturers have improved their technology to the extent that their quality can meet the manufacturer’s OEM standards. And what’s more, most re-manufactured cartridges provide good quality prints, coupled with a low occurrence of malfunction and leakage.

A DIY Recycling Project

This simple DIY recycling project can be used for educational purposes, as a school or class activity for kids, or when you really do want to recycle your own paper.

It serves as a good demonstration of how recycling works, and anyone who has gone through with this process is likely to think twice in the future, before discarding waste paper into the wrong basket.

While I doubt that any resources were really saved in this video (the energy and materials consumed by the process probably far outweigh the value of a couple of sheets of paper), it serves an educational purpose.

It also demonstrates another important fact – recycling itself, as a process, consumes energy and resources.  The fact that one is going to recycle certain waste doesn’t mean that no waste management is necessary at all.

Recycling may be better than filling a landfill, but when all is said and done, the less excessive garbage produced, the better.

There is no need for old, replaced, or even obsolete electronics to go to waste.  It can be reused, repurposed, or recycled, and in more ways than one.

This very amusing video will make you think twice the next time you’re about to toss your 1980s walkman or you 2007 computer; and will give you some ideas on how to better approach the issue.

When we think of pumpkins, we think of Halloween, Jack-O-Lanterns, pumpkin pie, and maybe Thanksgiving.

But, truth be told, there are plenty of ways to use a pumpkin!

During October, pumpkins are abundant.  Sometimes, too abundant.  And it’s not uncommon to see excess pumpkins cast aside or left to rot after Halloween, but there’s really no need to let the extras go to waste.

The following are just a few of the great uses for pumpkins:

1. Pumpkins in Recipes

As food, pumpkins are low in calories, yet high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, protein, and potassium.  Dig out your favorite cookbook and search for recipes containing pumpkin.

Pumpkin bread, pies, and muffins are favorites, but you can probably find plenty of others.  As an impromptu house guest in Paris, I was once served an incredible pumpkin soup (though I never completed my search for that recipe).  There are more exotic recipes to try as well – pumpkin juice, pumpkin ice cream, and even fried pumpkin.

2. Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds (also called “pepitas”) are also known to be highly nutritious, and are used in weight-loss diets.  They provide fiber, healthy fats, and protein, as well as minerals such as magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, and copper.  They are also known to strengthen the immune system, and to be good for people with high cholesterol.

Roasted pumpkin seeds make excellent between-meals snacks, can be sprinkled over a holiday squash soup, and are a favorite in Mexican cooking.  Candied pumpkin seeds are great for parties as well – and even the children might accept them among their Halloween candy.

3. Pumpkin for Pets

Mashed pumpkin is a great remedy for digestive trouble in dogs.  It can be used to combat weight gain or diarrhea, and for resistance to infections.  It is also said to be good for a dog’s night vision and general health.

Simply add a few spoons of cooked, mashed pumpkin to the dog’s food.  (Important: it must be pure mashed pumpkin, not a mix!)  For instructions on how to create your own mashed pumpkin, see #4 below.

Cats may like pumpkin as well, and it can be given to help cats with similar digestive troubles, as well as hairballs.

Remember, if your pet is sick, take him to the vet!  And ask your vet about using pumpkin as a home remedy.

4. Saving Pumpkins for Later

If you have more pumpkin than you know what to do with, you can save it for later use in recipes and for winter holidays.

There are several ways to create pumpkin puree which can be frozen for later use.  The following are three preparation methods:

1.  Baking – Cut the pumpkin in half, place it on a baking sheet with the flat side down, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for about an hour, or until it is tender when tested with a fork.

2.  Microwave – Follow the same procedure as above, but instead of placing the pumpkin in an oven, microwave it on high for about 15 minutes, or until it is tender.

3.  Boiling – Cut the pumpkin into large chunks and rinse.  Then, place the chunks in a large pot, cover with water (fully immersing the pumpkins, plus one inch of water on top), and boil until tender.

Once you have utilized one of the above methods to soften the pumpkin, cool it off, peel it, and mash it in a food processor.  You can also use a potato masher or similar device.

Then, simply seal the puree into zip lock bags, or whatever is convenient, and freeze it for for the winter.  The puree can be used as a substitute for canned pumpkin, in any recipe.

5. Pumpkins as Dishes

You can clean a pumpkin well, cut it in half, and dry it for use as a serving bowl or flower vase. You can also use a halved pumpkin to cook or bake other foods in.  For more information, see How to Carve a Pumpkin Bowl.

6. Pumpkins for the Skin

Pumpkins contain anti-oxidants and alpha-hydroxy, which are said to be good for the skin.  You can use pumpkin peels as a facial, to combat aging or other skin problems.

7. Pumpkins for Children and Games

You can use pumpkins for children’s drawing or carving contests.  If your kids are too little to start carving yet, they can also decorate pumpkins with markers or paint – or even a pumpkin collage.  Another use of pumpkins is as targets for archery practice.

But we definitely don’t recommend any games that involve throwing pumpkins, nor using them as substitutes for soccer balls.

And, possibly even better, how about a cross between a Jack-O-Lantern, a Snow Man, and a Scare Crow?  Your kids might have a great time making a pumpkin man – and it’s much better for them than watching TV.

8. Pumpkins as Ornaments

Pumpkins, gourds, and squash can be used to create candle holders, Thanksgiving centerpieces, and other ornaments.

9. Musical Pumpkins

Yes, that’s right, pumpkins make great musical instruments as well.  Or, at least they can if you know how to make (and play) them.  You can see and hear a variety of ideas for instruments that can be made from gourds, squashes, and pumpkins. Although many instruments are made from gourds, one can easily imagine how a large or small pumpkin would do just as well in several cases.

10. Pumpkins for Crafts

If you are an experienced craftsman or devout hobbyist, you might try some more advanced and creative uses of pumpkins.  You can make pumpkin leather like the American Indians did, or settle witih a simple pumpkin bird house.

As you can see, there’s really no need for pumpkins to go to waste, either before Halloween or afterwards.

During economic recessions, it’s not uncommon that people have more time on their hands than they have money.  Instead of letting extra pumpkins go to waste, these are a few ways you can stretch your grocery budget a bit further, invest some time in your health, get your kids away from the screen, and have some fun at the same time.

All of this hype about “green” business can easily exhaust even the most dedicated environmentalists. “Green”, “eco-friendly”, and other environmental buzzwords were not in the lexicon of the average citizen until a couple years ago. In light of this fact, it’s no surprise that many businesses are incorporating these words and phrases into their products’ messages. “Green” has changed from an occasionally used word to a must have for many companies. Words are just the tip of the iceberg however. “Green” business practices have infiltrated all aspects of business and those truly dedicated are reaping big rewards.

A study published by Retail Systems Research (RSR), sponsored by Intel and the Retail Industry Leaders Association explains the benefits for those companies who are incorporating environmentally-friendly practices into all aspects of their business. As the report states, “green is rapidly creating a strategic advantage in ALL corners of the enterprise, and has become a major component of the planning for any new IT investment.”

According to the study, cost reduction is still the primary motivator for all of the companies surveyed, but those companies referred to as “Retail Winners” (retailers whose sales are already outperforming their competitors and grew by more than the industry-average 3 percent annually) are equally focused on the brand-building potential of eco-friendly strategies.

Retail winners are contrasted with “laggards,” companies who are generally underperforming. Retail winners:

“recognize that customers expect them to act more so than do their underperforming competitors, are more interested in lowering their carbon footprint, and are much more in tune with creating the image that they ‘care.’ They associate environmentally sound practices with their Brand image to consumers and the industry, and associate these practices with their ethical responsibility to the community in anticipation of stealing market share as the customer’s green demands grow.”

As the study makes clear, “green” can no longer be considered a fad. Let’s look at some of the statistics cited by the study:

• Last year, 53% of overall respondents identified the store energy costs as a challenge that could benefit from a green overhaul.
• This year 92% of all the electricity required to run a retail store’s POS systems, overhead lighting, backroom systems, mobile/handheld devices, signage, security systems ‐ not to mention the energy costs of heating, air conditioning, water, and refrigeration, where needed – has come into focus.
• 48% of surveyed companies consider “green initiatives” currently as strategic initiatives for their enterprise.
• Retail Winners are motivated more by ethical obligation, industry image, and brand identity than the average company surveyed.

So what does all this mean?

It seems that in just a couple of years the tide has turned in favor of “green” business practices. Although the survey was largely of North American companies, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that a new environmental consciousness has taken hold in the international business world. Question after question asked to companies in the RSR study shows that companies genuinely invested in reducing their environmental impact consistently report better earnings and performance.

At the same time Retail Winners are doing better financially by implementing green initiatives, they are also expanding the scope of their green practices in areas of business that were not previously considered for green improvements, such as IT, logistics, supply chains, and packaging.

I think it is fair to say that “green” business practices are finally winning the uphill battle against traditionally wasteful and inefficient practices.

For more information about “green” practices and their advantage for companies, go to Retailsystemsresearch.com.

It doesn’t seem too long ago that the business practices of Wal-Mart were widely criticized by groups ranging from workers’ rights activists to environmentalists, from trade unions to anti-globalization demonstrators and to those increasingly concerned with the state of American urban sprawl.  Yes, many of us took well advantage of Wal-Mart’s very low prices, but, still, it is obvious their image had to change.  Enter former CEO H. Lee Scott’s increasing personal and professional “revelations” about the positive impact Wal-Mart could have on the planet, and the growing efforts Mr. Scott pushed toward reducing the company’s operational footprint.

For CEO Scott, it started with a 2005 post-Hurricane Katrina speech highlighted by Wal-Mart’s new commitments to: doubling the fuel efficiency of its massive shipping fleet; to Wal-Mart, eventually, “creating zero waste;” for the company “to be supplied 100% by renewable energy” (currently, the company will source about 1% of its energy in the U.S. from renewables in 2009); and to invest $500 million annually in various energy saving programs.  Then, the world’s largest retailer cemented – at least in their eyes – their commitment to green business practices and environmental concerns with their recent dramatic release of Wal-Mart’s “Sustainability Product Index” on July 16 of this year.

As Greg previously remarked here on Source and Resource, the company’s new audacious and ambitious Sustainability Index involves 15 questions to approximately 60,000 to 100,000 suppliers around the world.  The Index “will serve as a tool for Wal-Mart’s suppliers to evaluate their own sustainability efforts… (focusing) on four areas: energy and climate; material efficiency; natural resources, and; people and community.”

Naturally, environmentalists and green business experts were healthily cautious before jumping to applaud the release of this index.  However, after further assessment of the sustainability criteria, experts have generally agreed that, although it has its faults – such as a lack of clear metrics, data, and interim milestones in some areas – the Sustainability Questionnaire is a bold move forward that could lead to an increased demand for transparency across all global businesses.  And, I say, that if this intense scrutiny successfully increases the environmental sustainability of the Wal-Mart supply chain, which reportedly touches 1/3 of the world’s productive capacity, then the efforts will truly yield a new, positive “Wal-Mart Effect.”  The ripples caused by the Sustainability Index may reverberate a newfound, widespread urgency for Life-Cycle Assessments and supply-chain environmental impact assessments for numerous products across retail sectors.

Therefore, your company may need assistance in readying itself for answering such questions and applying these new metrics to its products or services offered.  This is true whether you currently sell to Wal-Mart, are planning to sell Wal-Mart, or are rightfully intrigued by the fact that such “sustainability questions” might, soon, apply to other buyers of your products or services.  It is especially imperative to be familiar with the new rubrics and manners of reporting if your company is either a supplier to, or a partner with, consumer-goods companies Procter & Gamble, Tyson foods, Unilever, General Mills, and the other enterprises that have partnered with Wal-Mart to create their new Sustainability Consortium led by academics from the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University.

There is an upcoming workshop and conference in the Boston area that aims to provide answers, support, and guidance in these areas.  The workshop is entitled “Wal-Mart Supplier Readiness Workshop” and the accompanying conference the following day is called “Greening the Supply Chain.”  The two events are being created by the highly reputable “all things green” media outlet, Greentech Media, and their partner sponsor, Groom Energy, on September 16 and 17.  The two-day affair will be located at the Embassy Suites by the Boston-Logan Airport and will discuss opportunities such as The Carbon Disclosure Project, green certification systems, and managing “social compliance.”  The sponsors describe the workshop as a “time- and cost-effective way to gain confidence with your submittal (to Wal-Mart) and to gauge investment levels in sustainability programs.”  They recommend the two-day event to not only Wal-Mart suppliers, but also to suppliers who want to network with experts and other suppliers.  In addition, Sean Stephan, the Senior Director of Packaging and Sustainability at Wal-Mart International will be on hand to speak and answer a direct Q & A session.

Thus, it may be worthwhile for yourself or a representative from your business to go to the conference if not to network then to learn something about sustainability and supply chain issues, especially if your company can handle the $495 registration fee.

The first time I heard of the phrase Cradle to Cradle (C2C) was when a friend told me take a bath with a book called Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The reason for the bath and the book at the same time? The book is printed on synthetic ‘paper,’ made from plastic resins and inorganic filters, and is designed to “look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged.” The book can be recycled in all areas where polypropylene (think yogurt containers) recycling is available and can be reused for a lifetime, barring any contact with fire or radioactive materials.

I quickly became intrigued with the book and plowed my way through it. The ideal behind Cradle to Cradle design is that of the design of the book: use, recycle, reuse. C2C is the anti-thesis of single-use throw away design that dominated American capitalism in the last half of the 20th century. It is a relatively new idea—simple in conception, difficult in reality—that is creating quite the buzz throughout the “green” industry.

The current buzz from C2C is the result of Michael Braungart and William McDonough, the authors of the previously mentioned book. Although others conceived of the idea before them, they are largely responsible for the recent popularization of the term. Their book is the first manifesto of the C2C movement and an excellent introduction to this revolutionary school of design.

Cradle-to-cradle products, as opposed to cradle-to-grave products, are designed and produced to be “perpetually circulated in a closed loop,” thus maximizing their value while simultaneously reducing damage to ecosystems. C2C seeks to eliminate “waste” altogether.

The language of C2C design can be complex, but understanding only a few terms will give you a basic understanding of the philosophy. Braungart and McDonough split up all materials into two categories: technical and biological nutrients. A biological nutrient is “a biodegradable material posing no immediate or eventual hazard to living systems that can be used for human purposes and can safely return to the environment to feed environmental processes,” while a technical nutrient is “a material that remains in a closed-loop system of manufacture, reuse, and recovery (the technical metabolism), maintaining its value through many product life cycles.”

In an ideal world, Braungart and McDonough would like to see products solely designed by C2C protocols and entirely composed of either biological or technical nutrients. This would ensure a truly sustainable economy, one that not only reduces resource use in the present, but also guarantees those resources’ health in the future.

Unfortunately this ideal world does not exist and probably never will, but Braungart and McDonough have conceived a ‘C2C Certification’ that rates nearly any type of human product: consumer items, buildings, cities, social systems, and more. Although the certification system was initially slow in gaining traction, entire cities in China could become certified in the near future.

According to Braungart and McDonough’s company website, C2C certification “provides a company with a means to tangibly, credibly measure achievement in environmentally-intelligent design and helps customers purchase and specify products that are pursuing a broader definition of quality… This means using environmentally safe and healthy materials; design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies for social responsibility.”

Hundreds of products have become C2C-certified and more are in the process. To learn more about certification, check out the site, which gives an overview of the certification process and the requirements to become certified.

C2C design is incredibly important as the United States and the world transitions into a clean energy and green economy. Simply reducing consumption and building renewable energy projects is not enough because it is not genuinely sustainable for the future. Concentrating on creating processes and products that do away with consumption altogether is what C2C is about and that is the model the new economy needs.

When I was a young child, I used to put a certain small 45 rpm Sesame Street record on my Fisher Price record player.  The record had Kermit the Frog repeatedly singing, “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green.”  Today, as a mature, suit-and-tie-wearing frog, working in a marketing department of a large corporation, Kermit would easily refine his identity-conflict tune to “It’s Not Easy Marketing Green.”

According to the American Marketing Association, “Green Marketing” is defined as the development and marketing of products designed to minimize negative effects on the physical environment or to enhance its quality.  However, applying a concrete definition to such a slippery concept, which has taken many forms and shapes over the years, has proven to be anything but simple or manageable.  And, as you have seen on our Source and Resource site thus far, green marketing can include a variety of activities in diverse areas.

In general, a company’s green strategies has involved any of the following: 1) improving efficiencies in the production process, 2) changes in advertising style, and/or 3) taking greater account of a firm’s wastefulness of the earth’s resources, pollution and its release of toxins into the atmosphere.

Ever since Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports first emerged in the late 1980s alongside a company’s annual financial reports, firms’ environmental considerations have manifested in various (some may say ‘nebulous’) commitments, promises, and proclamations.  Some half-hearted, some gracefully fulfilled.  Such actions have ranged from recycling waste in industrial processes to a company exclusively using recycled paper; from a firm’s increased efficiency in the utilization of energy and materials, to improved logistics management for cutting down transportation emissions; and, even from transforming plastic waste into pencils, to donating employees’ used eyeglasses to a program called Vision Aid Overseas.

As we have all witnessed, consumer and corporate environmental consciousness has dramatically elevated in recent years.  Related news, events, and proposed legislation seem to emerge and change at warp speed.  More apparent causes and effects of global climate change, depleting fisheries, deforestation, and the current energy and impending water crises have all caused people to reassess what they put in their cupboards, dishwashers, and gas tanks, along with what they do with such things once they’ve been used.

Because of this intensified environmental awareness, it has become increasingly important how a firm deals with such global challenges.  Or, one might argue, it may be even more crucial how a firm is viewed in approaching such issues.  In this manner, CSR environmental behavior and “cleantech” investments have become essential to a company’s core operations, regardless of the sector in which the company operates.  That is, companies are not only sensing the rising accountability demands of shareholders, the public, and governmental bodies, but also the opportunities involved in a “green products” market estimated at US$209 billion.

Along the years, many corporate executives acquired newfound headaches attempting to navigate through the ever-shifting Green landscape.  Sometimes, it would seem as if all good deeds went punished, or, at best, unrecognized, and all “regular” activities were hyper-scrutinized.  Yet, nearly all will tell you that such experiences were tremendous learning opportunities and that it is quite important for companies to stay active, involved and persist in the green marketplace.  Unlike the first environmental movements of the 1970s and 1980s, this Green Marketing movement is a core business paradigm that is here to stay.  And, as executives are quickly learning, businesses not only need patience, but also much guidance along the way.

In addition to what Greg has been doing with critical updates on resources and news on sustainable, green business practices, this column provides the latest innovative approaches to green business strategies and corporate environmental marketing.  This will include a greater background understanding of the issues, theories, and policies involved, as well as insight from leading experts of where the green marketing movement has been, what it has learned, why, and where it is today.  We will explore how firms are overcoming the green marketing challenges and where they are seeking and finding new opportunities; how they are positioning themselves and where they are investing. We will search for answers to the key question, “How do firms embrace the holistic approach to green marketing that, although initially seems quite daunting and elusive, could provide a wealth of innovative and environmentally sustainable opportunities?”