Trend: Green Upgrades

Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the price everybody has to pay for the use of our environment and want to participate in ethical behavior.

Trend Description:
We already reported about the dramatic change in marketing communication supporting the trend “Easy Ethics” and its subtrends Eco Luxury and some case studies, like the Ozo Car. Being more and more aware of how important it is to do their part to protect earth’s sustainability, consumers are rethinking their spending habits. We collected some more case studies about alternative marketing strategies and how companies are trying to fit these changing consumer habits by making it easy for consumers to neutralize the pollution they produce.

Case Studies:

Green Upgrades
Green Upgrades are an easy way for consumers to act in an environmentally friendly way without changing their behavior. Skiers, for example, can donate a couple of dollars at some resorts to make good for the pollution they produced by going downhill. The money goes directly to environmental organizations in the area. At some concerts, music festivals, and sport events in the US, you can now find similar opportunities. There are even websites - like Terra Pass, Cool Driver , Conservation Fund , Carbon Fund, GreenTagsUSA, NativeEnergy - where consumers can donate a corresponding sum for the pollution and carbon emissions they caused - by heating or driving a car – to clean-energy projects, for example by supporting alternative energy projects or planting trees (to remove 14 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 11 trees have to be planted). Donating to projects like this is easy and salves the conscience.

Partnership Ford Motor and Terra Pass
“Me and my Ford are doing something good for the planet.” With slogans like this Ford is trying to encourage its customers to buy carbon offsets to drive “carbon neutral”. That means, for every mile the Ford is on the road, the responsible driver can reduce one mile’s worth of carbon dioxide emissions elsewhere. The cooperative website features a carbon calculator, tons of information and a “greener miles“ blog. So far 6500 Ford drivers have joined the movement – and apparently have offset 102 million pounds of C02.
Also the ice cream manufacturer Ben and Jerry’s, the dairy manufacturer Stonyfield Farms, Timberland Farms, Paramount, Warner Bros. Pictures, and many more are partnering with NativeEnergy to market themselves as environmentally responsible businesses and organizations.

Eco Chic Package
The Eco Chic Package at the Boston Hotel Lenox offers the guests passes for Boston public transportation and a copy of “The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists” as well as a pair of sneakers per room. For the upgraded cost of US$ 70 the hotel also buys enough renewable energy to make up for the greenhouse gas and pollution produced during the guest’s stay, which comes to about 52 pounds of carbon dioxide per night. The Eco Chick package is offered through September 10th, 2006 and might be continued if there is demand.

Trend Impact:
With the Green upgrades, companies have found an effective way to encourage consumers to act in an environmentally friendly way. In fact there are so many organizations out there now, that consumers can start to shop around. But no matter if they invest in the rainforest, local environmental organizations or alternative power, “eco-conscious” behavior seems to become a pretty established alternative. The only problem is the accountability for these projects. Is it better to invest in trees than in wind farm? “There is no uniformly accepted standard for what constitutes a valid reduction in global warming pollution”, says Daniel Lashof, science director of the climate center of the Natural Resources Defense Council in an article by the New York Times. The only exception are green tags, approved by the Center for Resource Solutions, which verify that clean-power companies sell the amount of power they say they do. Companies also send certificates to their customers and try to make the process as transparent as possible. The challenge is and will be to make the consumer understand what their money goes for and how much they actually help the environment.

Terra Pass
Cool Driver
Conservation Fund
Carbon Fund
GreenTagsUSA
NativeEnergy
Eco Chic Package
Ford and Terra Pass

Rate this post:

No rating yet