The advertising of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe is called “Green” Marketing. This incorporates a lot ... including product modifications, changes to production, packaging, and of course the advertising message. Green marketing is also called Environmental Marketing or Ecological Marketing and I believe we will see a ton of “Going Green” in our future.

Let’s take a look at some recognizable and effective green marketing initiatives.

The Energy Star label, the brainchild of the EPA now appears on 11,000 company models in 38 product categories, from washing machines to light bulbs. Although this is actually green marketing, the reason for its success is that is saves energy, and therefore money, which is why we look for it and feel comfy in our wise choice of refrigerator when the Energy Star is present.

Green is that? For a city dweller it’s freedom from car ownership, parking and is extremely attractive. If you want to zip out of town or across town, jump into your rental car and zip off! Fifty-plus cities and 100+ universities boast zip cars, and the numbers are sure to increase as American car makers continue to struggle.

For advertisers however, green is typically not the primary sales pitch because consumers perceive that environmental products don’t always work quite as well as conventional ones. This is an unfortunate legacy from the 1970’s, when shower heads sputtered and natural detergents left clothes pretty dingy. Given the choice, all but the greenest of customers will reach for synthetic detergents over the premium priced, “Happy Planet” variety. Recent reports do show a growing trend towards choosing greener products, as their formulations and efficacy have improved.

Greenwash is a term used to describe the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly.

The term Green Sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment.

Green Politics is a political ideology which places the highest importance on ecological and environmental goals, and on achieving these goals through broad-based, grassroots activism. Green politics is advocated by supporters of the Green movement, which has been active through Green parties worldwide since the 80’s. One of the most recognizable green organizations is “Greenpeace”, a global environmental organization, consisting of Greenpeace International in Amsterdam, and 28 national and regional offices around the world, providing a presence in over 40 countries. They are famed for their fight

to protect seals, polar

bears and whales.

Philips Lighting's first shot at marketing a fluorescent light bulb was Earth Light, at $15 each versus 75 cents for incandescent bulbs. The product had difficulty climbing out of its deep green niche. When the

company re-launched the product as "Marathon," underscoring its new "super long life" positioning and promise of saving $26 in energy costs over its five-year lifetime (now boasting U.S. EPA's Energy Star label to add credibility), sales climbed 12 %.

And have you heard about ZipCars … cars by the hour or day – gas and insurance included? How

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Cradle to Cradle seal represents the approval of an impartial organization which has approved a product as having an evironmentally responsible lifecycle. (raw material through disposal)

The Green Seal indicates minimal waste and toxins in items like cleaning products, paints and coffee filters among other things.

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

Energy Star means the products or service has met energy efficient standards set by the EPA.