Green is for everyone.  It’s not fringe or “‘off the grid.”  It’s mainstream and Main Street.  Imbue every message your business communicates with something for everyone. 

The package of energy-saving light bulbs that we opened yesterday had a little sticker on it that said these bulbs can save you $184.00 per year.   A client of ours that manufactures cloth diapers communicates that her diapers not only are eco-friendly (appealing to the heart) but can save you over $2,000.00 per child from birth through potty training (appealing to the head).  When ecology meets economy, it’s a win-win for everyone.    

Do you have an ecology meets economy story or tip you’d like to share?   We’d love to hear it and share it! 

The green consumer is a thinking consumer.   They think about their values every time they make a purchase.  It’s not just their emotions that drive them; it’s their intelligence as well.   Because of this, it makes sense to tell a thinking consumer something that makes them think and something that makes sense. 

It’s important to educate them with the logical part of being ecological.   Of course, it’s important to appeal to their sense of honor and caring.  But it’s equally important to appeal to their sense of savings. 

You can’t just tell them that you’re saving the planet one light bulb at a time.   They’re too smart for that.   We’ve found that consumers relate best to issues they feel they can actually have an impact on and ones that have an immediate impact on them. 

The rapidly increasing sales of Hybrids in today’s marketplace will increasingly be driven by the prices at the pump, not just the softer footprint on the earth.   A poll by the Associated Press in June 2007 stated 46 % of Americans said soaring gasoline prices would cause them “serious hardship” and 66 % said they planned to reduce driving.  And a whopping 47% said they have plans to buy a new fuel-efficient car.  Economy meets ecology.

It really is a circle of savings that does good for everyone.  The economic saving in the green world can often be as important as the ecological savings.  And that’s a message every shade of green can understand and relate to.   Those of us in the green communications world need to open up our approaches to marketing green products.  The more mainstream we make our messages, the less lofty the promises, the wider the audience there is to listen and respond. 

After all, that’s what we really want to accomplish, isn’t it?  Getting more green goods into the world for the good of all.   And that’s something we can all profit from.