Eco Products &

Consumers

INTRODUCTION

Eco-friendly literally means earth-friendly or not

harmful to the environment .

This term most commonly refers to products that

contribute to green living or practices that help

conserve resources like water and energy.

Eco-friendly products also prevent contributions to

air, water and land pollution.

PRODUCT QUALIFICATIONS

Making a truly eco-friendly product keeps both environmental and human safety in mind. At a minimum, the product is non-toxic.

Other eco-friendly attributes include the use of sustainably grown or raised ingredients, produced in ways that do not deplete the ecosystem.

Organic ingredients or materials are grown without toxic pesticides or herbicides. Products with "made from recycled materials" contain glass, wood, metal or plastic reclaimed from waste products and made into something new.

Biodegradable products break down through natural decomposition, which is less taxing on landfills and the ecosystem as a whole.

GREENWASHING

Companies sometimes label their products "eco-friendly" or "environmentally friendly" without them truly being so.

Called "greenwashing," marketing campaigns perpetuate this practice, aimed at helping companies increase their product sales by appealing to ecologically conscious buyers.

To avoid purchasing "greenwashed" products, look for products approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Star program or an ecologically conscious consumer-advocacy group such as the Green Good Housekeeping Seal.

GREEN CONSUMERS

Green consumers are the main motivating force

behind the green marketing process.

It is their concern for environment and their own

well being that drives demand for eco friendly

products, which in turn encourages improvements

in the environmental performance of many products

and companies.

Thus, for a marketer it is important to identify the

types of green consumers.

Various studies by environmentalists indicate that

people are concerned about the environment and

are changing their behavior pattern so as to be less

hostile towards it.

Research reveals that increasing number of the

consumers, both individual and industrial, are

asking for environment friendly products. Most of

them feel that environment-friendly products are

safe to use.

THE GREEN MARKETER

Green marketer can attract customers on the basis of performance, money savings, health and convenience, or just plain environmental friendliness, so as to target a wide range of green consumers.

The green consumers are the driving forces behind the green marketing process.

Thus, for a marketer it is important to identify the types of green consumers.

On average green shoppers are a little older, tend to have higher income, and more educated.

CONSUMER ATTITUDES

TOWARDS ECO-PRODUCTS

According to various research reports, shoppers are

thinking green, but not always buying that.

Awareness and understanding of sustainable

consumption among consumers was low; the majority of

Indian consumers still buy small, unpackaged goods

from low-cost, family-run shops.

In addition to this, variety of barriers were identified,

such as availability, affordability, convenience, product

performance, conflicting priorities, skepticism and force

of habit which prevent people from buying eco-friendly

products.

RISE OF CONSUMER POWER

Many of the early products designed to be environmentally responsible, such as electric cars and recycled paper, did not meet the basic expectations of consumers.

Rightly or wrongly, these early disappointments have made it tougher to convince today‘s consumers that green products work well.

At the same time, it indicates that consumers are less trusting of brands than in the past.

A trusted source of peer-generated information: 61% of consumers now consider blogs a reliable source of information, and more than half trust consumer-generated media.

GOVERNMENT CRITERIA

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government

of India Launched eco-labeling scheme known as

“Ecomark” in 1991 for easy identification of

environment-friendly products and to increase consumer

awareness.

The Ecomark label is awarded to consumer goods that

meet the specified environmental criteria and the quality

requirements of Indian Standards.

According to the ministry a product is examined in terms

of following main environmental impacts:

1) That they are substantially less potential for pollution than other comparable products in production, usage and disposal.

2) That they are recycled, recyclable made from recycled products or biodegradable, where comparable products are not.

3) That they make significant contribution to saving nonrenewable resources and natural resources.

1) That the product must contribute to a reduction of the adverse primary criteria that have the highest environment impact associated with use of product and which will be specifically set for each of the product categories.

WHY CONSUMERS GET DISCOURAGED?

WAYS TO MAKE THE PRODUCT ENVIRONMENT

FRIENDLY

Raw material - must be completely non toxic in nature

Manufacturing – pollution free manufacturing

Packaging – neat and packed in bio-degradable materials

Usage of the product – must serve the exact purpose of why the product is manufactured

Dispose – must be degradable and musnt cause pollution to the environment

EXAMPLES

Godrej launched eco-friendly refrigerator in 2001.

Modicare introduce ‘beyond blue’ liquid toilet cleaner, which is

environment-friendly and biodegradable.

Wipro has gone for ISO-14001 certification for its waste management

policies and energy conservation measures.

Some hotels in India are also applying for Ecotel, a third party

certification for environment-friendly hotels.

The Bangalore-based reva electric car company (RECC), A joint

venture between maini group, Bangalore, and AEVLIC,USA, is

involved in manufacturing cars that run on electricity.

This vehicle is pollution free and costs only 40 paise per km to run.

Top 10 companieswith eco conscious

production

IKEA – Home furnishing

Uses sustainable forestry techniques.

The company is also investing in solar and

wind energy to an unprecedented degree.

The company plans to double its already

strong investments in renewable energy and

hit 100% clean energy by 2020.

It also leads the way in selling cleaner, greener

products.

NIKE

Does more for the environment than encourage people to walk; its headquarters in the Netherlands use recycled aluminum frames and underground energy storage.

It also enforces strict emission standards at all of its factories, and has been able to reduce its overall carbon footprint by approximately 80% since the late 90s.

Furthermore, it offers the greenest soccer shoes around.

Johnson&Johnson

Johnson & Johnson has recently begun

switching much of its energy dependency over

to solar power.

It is now the second largest user of solar

power in the United States, with over half of

its energy derived from clean sources.

QMI Services

QMI is a company that designs automated

handling equipment (such as barcode

scanning systems and weigh in

motion devices) for use in factories around the

world.

They make this list because of the efficient

way they use energy on the production line.

They make the list again because the products

they manufacture help other companies also

efficiently use energy on the production line.

PHILIPS

Invests billions of euros into green research,

so that every company on earth can someday

be as eco-friendly as it is trying to be.

That research has resulted in a tiny

LED, award-winning LEDs, the world’s

“smartest” LED, the most efficient white LED,

and much more.

EARTH TEC

It’s one thing to recycle materials into new

products.

Earth Tec takes it a step further by using

recycled products in the production process.

Things like plastic bottles are saved from

landfills so that they can be used to help make

eco-friendly clothing.

SCHOTT

Schott is a glass company that caught eco-

friendly eyes when it manufactured the world’s

first glass-ceramic cooktop without using

heavy metals arsenic and antimony as

additives.

Limiting the use of heavy metals is crucial to

environmental stability, because the methods

used to extract them from the earth are so

damaging.

It’s also lowered its emission and waste

products substantially in the last twenty years.

DELL

Back in 2008, Dell pledged that it would

reduce its total manufacturing emissions by

40% by the end of 2015.

With just two years to go, it looks like Dell is

going to easily reach its goal.

TUPPERWARE

Initiatives to reduce pollution, conserve energy,

and recycle are standard in

the Tupperware production process.

Very strict environmental policies are enforced

in its manufacturing plants around the world,

and the environmental payoff is extraordinary.

IBM

It’s been moving towards more

environmentally friendly practices since back

when “green” still meant “yellow + blue.”

In the decade between 1990 and 2000, it

reduced its overall power consumption by

5.1 billion kilowatt hours, and that includes

power used for manufacturing.

Which product leads in official

purposes?

Who are willing to pay?

Conclusion

In today’s world ‘Green’, ‘Green Living’, & ‘Going Green’ seem to be verging on overuse these days. There are many un-green companies jumping on the green flagship merely for the sake of increasing their own sales.

There are just so many interpretations of ‘green’, it starts to make the public desensitized to the plight of our own planet. But becoming green is desperately needed. If we all carry on on the identical path the last 50 years has created, we will seriously jeopardize the future.