Is "Green" the New "Natural"?

The explosion of the green marketplace in the past year has been stunning, but it turns out it's not really clear what "green" means. A recent New York Times piece on Home Depot reports:

“Everybody is in a mad scramble to say how green they are,” said Jim O’Donnell, manager of the Sierra Club Stock Fund, which handles $50 million in a portfolio of companies it considers environmentally friendly. He added that he was hopeful the product greening would become more meaningful over time.

One reason for the scramble is that there are few verifiable or certified standards to substantiate claims. Crest has introduced a toothpaste containing green tea extract and natural mint, sold under the “Nature’s Expressions” label, even though it contains artificial ingredients like most toothpastes. Raid sells a wasp and hornet killer in a green can marked “Green Options” with “Natural Clove Scent.”

“You almost have to be a scientist with a lab to decipher the dizzying array of claims,” said Robyn Griggs Lawrence, editor in chief for Natural Home magazine. “It’s hard to get information on what makes a product green.” (Emphasis added)

The food business went though a similar progression, with the term "natural." The term was slapped on just about every product and only regulated by the USDA in one specific arena - meat. The word "natural" in meat means "minimally processed" and without colorings or additives, so virtually any meat product could qualify. Looking for beef produced without antibiotics or synthetic hormones? The word "natural" does not identify such a product.

Organic food proponents saw what happened to the word "natural" and decided they wanted more rigor for the word "organic," so set up a system of verifiable claims that ensured the word had integrity. Hence, the national regulations for organic food.

As for the word "natural," the Hartman Group market research firm reports it is now virtually meaningless. "In fact, the word has become so diluted that many actively avoid products bearing this word out of fear that they could be 'imposters,'" the firm says.

Which only leads one to wonder about the fate of the word "green."

Comments

[Chuck Rogers]

If you can eat it it's GREEN! We are trying to market a new product (Mechanical/Household OIL)that is derived from organic oils and works better than WD-40 . . . . no one seems too intrested. . . . . . yet !

[Andrew Barnet]

Most people just don't have time to sort out all the pretenders to sustainability. Most people have fifteen minutes to spend in the market on their way home from work, and they can't spend it figuring out which milk with the happy cows on it truly comes from happy cows.

So what's the answer? As that NY Times article rightly points out, many marketing buzz words aren't controlled at all, and thus lose all meaning. Any brand can claim to be "green" or "natural" without anything to back it up. Even regulation, though, doesn't seem to help much, as the ongoing effort to water down the standards for "organic" shows:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=11401

Into the void step assorted non-profit organizations, all dedicated to making it easy for consumers to cut through the advertising hype. The Center for the New American Dream has a great collection of links on this page, for everything from computers to soap:

http://www.newdream.org/consumer/marketplace.php

If you're looking for sustainably and humanely produced meat, dairy, or eggs, the Eat Well Guide has a huge directory of restaurants, stores, farms, and more:

http://www.eatwellguide.org/

And Local Harvest has a great deal of information about all kinds of local food, farmers' markets and farms in particular:

http://www.localharvest.org/

That's about all I can think of for now. If anyone reading this knows of other helpful resources, please leave a comment and let everyone know!

-Andrew, of the Eat Well Guide

[Samuel Fromartz]

Andrew, Thanks for the comment. I differ though on your take on the organic standards and the petition at that link. See my following post, How the Media Missed the Organic Story, that explains this. Best, Sam