Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`d like to promote my product as green, as it is very energy efficient.  LED lights use 90% less energy than the traditional bulbs. However, the product base is made out of plastic - not very environmentally friendly. I have been working with the manufacturer to see if we can use reclaimed plastics - don`t know if this is possible.  But what do you think?  Could I market the product as green on the merits that it saves electricity?  OR do you think the entire product, packaging etc... needs to be green as well?

-------------------------

Tom Huffman - Founder of NiteTrip.
nitetrip.com
LinkedIN Profile

The essence of Being Green is to have the bulk of your product and its components made of recycled, recyclable, and renewal resources.  The essence of Going Green is to improve on an existing benchmark for your particular product. 

 

I don’t think there is any benchmark established for you to better.  So aside from simply stating the obvious, that the bulbs are efficient, I don`t believe your product has any green merit. 

 

But it is truly admirable that you have such lofty goals, so please don’t curb your enthusiasm or stop looking for other sources of materials.

-------------------------

Tracy Barnhart, Owner
Giverny, Inc. / Mini Me Geology
http://www.GivernyOnline.com
http://www.MiniMeGeology.com

Who cares if it`s "green?" If you`re selling organic something, or sustainable energy services, fine....being "green" is a feature and possibly a benefit. But I really and truly wonder at the number of people who believe that "green" people are such a huge market demographic they`ll buy anything, as long as it`s labeled "green."

Come on! It`s poltically correct jargon, pure and simple. Only a small number of modern businesses are willfully going out to "destroy the environment." Most people understand the benefits of recycling, as long as it doesn`t go overboard.

But the main problem is when someone tries to force a product into the "green" category for no reason at all other than....nothing.

What, someone`s going to say, "Oh...well, I really don`t want this product, but HOLY COW! Look`it this....it`s GREEN! Hey, now that changes my entire outlook, and I`m gonna buy one immediately!" :-D I don`t think so.

-------------------------

Tracy Barnhart, Owner
Giverny, Inc. / Mini Me Geology
http://www.GivernyOnline.com
http://www.MiniMeGeology.com

If a million people say something stupid, it`s still stupid.

If a million people believe that saying their product is imported from galactic extraterrestrials, then they`ll say so. Does that improve their product, sales numbers or market share? Only if there`s a large audience of buyers who only will buy products made with alien technology.

iow...the emperor has no clothes???

Thank you all for your feedback. I think this was an excellent discussion and maybe hit on a nerve.  As to my specific product, I intend to promote its energy efficiency as a green alternative to traditional lighting. While I don`t expect people to buy my product because I say its green - I do believe that it will help.  As DMIGUY states, go with what sells - but I`ll add one condition in terms of my values - I won`t mislead or exaggerate to make a sale.  And I do intend to see if i can use recycled material in manufacturing to lower its carbon footprint.

-------------------------

Tom Huffman - Founder of NiteTrip.
nitetrip.com
LinkedIN Profile