As an industry member, have you made ‘green’ a viable component of your business?

From a product or service viewpoint, ‘green’ is defined as “made/provided with little environmental harm”: goods or services produced in an environmentally and ecologically friendly way, e.g. by using renewable resources. So, the question is are you providing a product or service that fits this definition or are you greenwashing, creating smoke and mirror advertisement?’

Survey Reports Greenwashing Rampant

According to a survey conduct by an environmental marketing firm TerraChoice, greenwashing affects as much as 98 percent of product claims. “The good news,” says TerraChoice president and CEO Scott McDougall, “is the growing availability of green products indicates consumers are demanding more environmentally responsible choices, and that marketers and manufacturers are listening. On the other hand, the bad news is TerraChoice's survey of 2,219 consumer products in Canada and the U.S. shows that marketers are exploiting consumer demand for third-party certification by creating fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsement.”

Green Product/Service Commitment

As industry participants, we have a choice – greenwashing or green commitment. “Greening, sustainability,” says Ed Snodgrass of Emory Knoll Farms, located in Street Maryland, “means we don't take more out of the Earth than we are able to put back.” Recognized nationally as the 2007 Green Roof Man of the Year, Snodgrass, a committed conservationist, has put most of his property into an agricultural preservation trust. He also supplies plants for over one million square feet of green roofs in 20 states and the District of Columbia. So, obviously, his activities influence commercial ‘greening’ but are there other differences? If you look behind the visibility of Snodgrass’s commercial commitment, you will see that it extends far beyond a business focus. His philosophy, "Don’t take more out of the Earth than we able to put back," is applied to all facets of his life. Green, to Snodgrass, is a lifestyle choice.

Another example of applied green is Jennifer Schamber of Greenscape Gardens & Gifts, located in Manchester, Mo.

“There is a new breed of gardener, those that want to contribute to the repair and renewal of the damaged environment,” she says. Schamber advises the industry to produce and then advertise locally grown products, provide demonstrations of sustainable gardening practices, offer how-to seminars and workshops, provide on-site recycling programs, join and display the logo of an umbrella association that advocates eco-strategies, add green tips to your newsletter and motivate your staff to think green by including them in the formulation of greening strategies. “I take our slogan, ‘Grow Your World,' literally and proactively pursue being a steward of the land," Schamber says.

Individual Accountability

Dissimilar to Snodgrass or Schamber, the average U.S. citizen's total ecological footprint is about 25 acres, meaning that if everyone consumed similar to the average American, it would require several additional Earths to support present-day lifestyles. Still, although difficult to measure the degree to which consumption choices affect immediate and extended eco-systems, there are eco-footprint tools, web conservation sites such as www.conservation.org/ecofootprint that help determine individual impact.

In prior columns published by Today’s Garden Center, I challenged the industry to identify a brand identification representative of the industry as a whole, shared the story of personal involvement as well as challenged readers to identify industry appropriate images sustained by viable products or services. Now, I’m expanding my challenge to include a green commitment to sustainability. Use an eco-footprint tool and identify your status; specifically, where and how you presently fall short related to green lifestyle choices. In other words, put your green glasses on!

During a recent OFA Short Course event, the idea of creating a simple marketing message that spans all of floriculture was discussed. Presently, my state of Virginia Green Industry colleagues and I have such a message, "GoGreen." Together, we support a consumer web site and industry. In fact, we annually host a festival, Virginia GoGreen, garden festival and more and recently implement a plant introduction program Beautiful Gardens. It is an ongoing struggle to obtain and retain industry support and consumer awareness, alike. So, there may not be a one-size-fits-all industry message that works well for all.