Green Business Trend Taking Hold
Margie Brand
are striving for when we talk about a business not only doing less
harm, or doing a little good, but rather actually adding financial,
social and environmental value. TerraCycle does this through the
product they produce, the packaging the use, and the message they aim
to spread: producing worm castings and selling this as fertilizer,
packaging this in used soda bottles thereby reducing waste by reusing
rather than downcycling.
Margie Brand
Initiator and Executive Director
EcoVentures Inrernational
www.eco-ventures.org
Green Business Trend Taking Hold
Business Model Trends August 14, 2006 By Anita Campbell
Imagine a company where everything - from product to packaging - is
made from garbage. Such a company exists - and it is growing at a
rapid pace. It is called TerraCycle, and Inc magazine profiled the
company recently.
The company's product is an organic plant food made from worm
castings. OK, all you gardeners know there's not much new about using
worm castings as fertilizer. Gardeners have been using worm castings
for ages - although this particular product is a bit different in that
it is a liquid spray.
No, what's truly revolutionary is the packaging. The fertilizer is
packaged in used plastic soda pop bottles. Not soda bottles that have
been melted down and remade into a different form, but the actual used
bottles themselves. The company has repurposed over a million such
bottles.
Peter Renton writes on his Lightning Labels blog about TerraCycle and
the bottles:
"Most of the space in the factory is taken up by bottles. They
receive these plastic bottles from huge trailers. After they arrive in
the factory they are cleaned, delabeled, filled and then labeled again
with a TerraCycle label. The used bottles are an integral part of the
marketing message for TerraCycle. On their web site, the bottles are
front and center, and they show you before and after pictures with
Pepsi logos.
This is such a great packaging idea, it is surprising that no one
has thought of it before. It is a less expensive option that is also
better for the environment. And with all the billions of plastic
bottles that are thrown away every year either in recycling bins or
landfills there should be a plentiful supply. "
TerraCycle is an example of a growing trend of green business.
What is a Green Business?
A green business is an ecologically-friendly business. It is not
limited to any particular market - it could be any kind of product for
any market. What characterizes a green business is that it is run in
such a way as to conserve natural resources, eliminate waste and
remain ecologically in balance.
The terminology and language used to describe these businesses is all
over the place.
Sustainable business is a term used regularly.
Natural capitalism is another term. The tenets of natural capitalism
are outlined in this Harvard Business Review article, A Roadmap for
Natural Capitalism (PDF).
TerraCycle uses the term eco-capitalism to describe its approach:
"The emerging concept of Eco-Capitalism holds that organizations
must be accountable for their performance in the consumption and
production of natural capital, an economic term for the goods and
services available from nature. Such goods and services include the
resources we use in conducting manufacturing and commerce, both
nonrenewable (oil, coal, metal ore, etc.) and renewable (forests,
fisheries, grasslands, etc.).
Traditional capitalistic business practices and public policies
have typically ignored the value of natural capital. We have been
wasteful in our use of energy, materials, water, fiber, topsoil, and
ecosystems."
Anecdotal Signs of Growth
Whatever you call it - green business, sustainable business, eco-
capitalism or anything else - the signs are all around us that green
businesses are a growing business trend, as this CNN Money article
notes.
How much growth is the elusive part. Certainly you can find lots of
anecdotal evidence of green businesses today. A search of related
terms in Google brings up thousands of Web pages. Co-Op America is
holding its fourth annual Green Business Conference in November, and
their website says last year's event was sold out. Talk of sustainable
business is even part of a United Nations initiative.
Yet, it is hard to find solid data about the number of and revenues of
these eco-friendly small businesses. (If anyone has good statistics,
please leave a comment below.)
Complicating the picture is the fact that green businesses can be
associated with political platforms (pro-Kyoto accord, anti-Big Oil,
etc.). People with highly-charged feelings about an issue may be the
ones motivated to start and run a green business. They tend to be
highly vocal. Very loud voices can make any movement seem bigger than
it is.
Is "Green" Good Marketing?
Obviously the entrepreneurs and business owners who follow green
business tenets feel strongly about the environment. But the real
question is: how many of their customers care?
A recent survey by Landor Associates suggests that the majority (58%)
of consumers do not care whether a business is green. According to the
survey, that still leaves 42% who are interested to some degree in the
environment.
Another set of market research - more extensive - was done by the
Natural Marketing Institute for LOHAS. LOHAS stands for consumers with
Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. The LOHAS research found that
23% of the U.S. adult population is "classified as a LOHAS consumer,
meaning that they have a profound sense of environmental and social
responsibility." These are the people most likely to buy green
products.
Twenty-three percent of the U.S. adult population is no shabby number
- it exceeds 50 million people. So obviously a decent-sized market
exists.
Green business strikes me as a business trend with promise. If you
happen to be a consumer interested in conserving the environment,
chances are you will be interested enough to support it with your
pocketbook. And apparently a growing number of business owners feel
similarly.
Will 100% of the population ever become a green consumer? Hardly. But
luckily you don't need 100% of the population to make it worthwhile.