The green world isn’t just about things that are green.  It’s about the values that come along with caring like social justice; and people and planetary safety around the globe.  All of these are green thinking.  What better way is there to reach your market than by reaching out?

An integral part of green marketing should be an alliance with a worthy cause.   Advocate for one you believe in and if possible, one with a link to your overall message and positive image.

For instance, Patagonia, the outdoor clothing manufacturer, is all about protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.patagonia.com/usa/patagonia.go?assetid=1809), Stonyfield Yogurt is for supporting family farms and organic agriculture (http://www.stonyfield.com/EarthActions/) and Timberland, the foot ware company, is about cooling global warming http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_env_stratgic_partnership).

These causes and they way they work with them are displayed as prominently as their products are on their website.   

There is no great shortage of great causes to align with, from the global to the local.  But it has to be authentic or don’t bother.  The green consumer will see right through it.

Now your social responsibility doesn’t end there.   Examine your own practices.  Are you carbon neutral?  Are your facilities toxin-free?   Is there a better way to do what you’re doing?   Are your working conditions safe and fair?   Not only are these worth supporting, the cost of not supporting them in the hearts and minds of the green consumer can be even more costly.  

These are all necessary parts of your green communication but first see what you believe in and what you can do better.   Then communicate it.   Walks gotta go with the talk.

How are you walking the talk?  We’d like to know!

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Women and men have very different environmental concerns.   Women tend to be naturally closer to nature because of child bearing and other reproductive functions.  Women are also traditionally the nurtures, healers and gathers.   They are 15% more likely to rate the environment a high priority and represent two-thirds of the voters who cast their ballots around environmental issues and support increase government spending for the environment.

Men on the other hand tend to focus on environmentalism as energy independence.   The solution to our addiction to oil is the advancement of technology – solar, wind power, biomass.  For men, global warming is primarily a tech issue.  For women, it’s mostly a personal issue.   

Journalist Thomas L. Friedman in a cover story for the New York Times wrote that America should redefine green to make it more “muscular” and transform its characterization by opponents as “sissy,” “girlie-man,” and “vaguely French.”   He said, “Green isn’t some ‘wussy’ tree-hugging thing.  Green is patriotic.  Green is strategic.  Green is the new red, white, and blue.”

Four decades ago, Rachael Carson, the “mother of the environmental movement” wrote that “we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.” 

These differences have significant impact on the focus of your green message.   Don’t just know what you’re marketing, know what you’re offering and who it appeals to.   

The bottom line is all of us have both feminine and masculine qualities in us.   Smart green marketers recognize this and know how to craft their message to skillfully keep the balance.     

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Some might think it is.  I think it’s more a question of accepting reality as it really is.  Our modern world consumes.   That’s a fact of life.   The question is can we accomplish something good for the planet as a whole if we understand and work with that? 

Gary Hirschberg of Stonyfield Yogurt faced just such a dilemma when their company was sold to Groupe Danone.  But he decided he could do more good for everyone concerned when he found a way to bring his product more mainstream and achieve greater distribution.

Visionary and author, Paul Hawken states, “Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation.”   Some of that business might include manufacturing green products.

In the perfect world, none of us would consume but that is not a possibility for planet Earth in the 21st century.   Our job and our quickest way to advance the green movement is to convert consumers from products that don’t promote planet health to green products that do.  The more believable and salient the green message, the faster and more effectively we can help accomplish that.  

Imagine if all of us switched to hybrids, non-polluting detergents, non-toxic cleaning supplies, reduced the chemical loads on our lawns and gardens, increased the amount of organics we ate, pressured officials to increase the amount of available alternative energy, went solar, reused, recycled and reduced.  

Wouldn’t that move all of us to a greener, more sustainable future?   Green commerce is not THE answer but is an answer to migrating as many consumers as we can to a better, greener and healthier way. 

That way we all win. 

Irv Weinberg

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