A Green Tinted Catch 22

by Jean Crawford
Published September 23, 2010 in Health

Half Truth: “I want to be as green as I can be.”
Whole Truth: “I’ll go green as long as it still tastes good, looks pretty and doesn’t cost more.”- What She’s Not Telling You

A recent article in the Times, “Cleaner for the Environment, Not for the Dishes”, explores negative consumer feedback on P&G’s new Cascade product line that follows new government regulations around the amount of phosphates allowed in dishwashing detergents. Often with environmentally friendly products there is confusion over price, effectiveness and the trade off. For example, if I don’t use one resource (harmful chemicals) and alter my routine by pre-washing my dishes, aren’t I then using more of another environmental resource (water) thereby hurting the environment in a different but equally bad way? It’s like a green Catch 22.

How can Cascade address this? Are there stats out there proving that pre-washing dishes uses less water than running your dishwasher twice? It’s time for green companies and products to address mass consumer concern in order to gain acceptance and market share.

Tags: Cascade, Clean Products, Green, Procter & Gamble, The New York Times

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Going Green is Getting Easier

by Tracy Chapman
Published February 25, 2010 in Health

Women have been telling us for awhile now that they would like to be more socially and environmentally responsible. They have the best of intentions but as we’ve mentioned before, most women are going “Greenish”.  Most do what’s convenient and not too expensive and what works best in their lives. (See our recent post on how Clorox has won with women trying to be more green)

While it’s great when consumers can take the first step in being more conscious of their actions (reusable bags, energy-efficient light bulbs, etc.), it’s even better when companies make it easy to be green and get us actually thinking about our actions. Here are three companies I’d like to give shout-outs to:

Brita and their “Responsible Water” Campaign. They remind you that a plastic water bottle will live forever in a landfill.   They’ve made me think about picking up a bottle of water on my way to a walk in the park vs filling my reusable BPA free container from my Brita pitcher.

Method’s new laundry detergent with smartclean technology is the world’s first Cradle to Cradle certified laundry detergent.  Its environmentally-intelligent design has me rethinking the heavy jug I get at Costco each month.

And lastly, SunChip’s creation of the first 100% compostable chip package which debuts Earth Day 2010 (Great commercial by Juniper Park!), will have consumer packaged goods companies scrambling to figure out how they too can make their packaging plantable.  

Companies are going to continue to take even more responsibility for making this a better planet which in turn will make it easier and more affordable for consumers to play their part.

Tags: Brita, Clorox, Costco, Green, Green-ish, Juniper Park, MethodHome, SunChips

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