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Shades Of Green Don’t think you can be green enough for your customers? Think again As the green movement builds momentum, retailers are discovering that offering green product isn’t as easy as it seems. As more and more green product floods the market, consumers are becoming more educated about the category, and more skeptical about what defines it. “If you’re a retailer who’s bringing in green customers, they’re much more educated about environmental factors now than in the past,” says Jones. “Unfortunately, thinking that you have to be 100 percent perfectly green, or that you’re greenwashing if you aren’t, isn’t helpful. We need to get to a place where consumers and businesses can align so we move everything forward without getting caught up in a debate about what is and isn’t green.”
GROWING GREEN
What defines green, however, is changing. “The problem in the green movement that people have only recently comes to terms with is essentially, ‘Hey, we’re all wearing these organic hemp T-shirts; what a pity they’re being made in Sai Pan sweatshops.’ Increasingly, green activists and agencies are taking a range of issues into account—animal rights, human rights, community involvement and more.” Of course, the more factors added to the green equation, the trickier it becomes. “A vegan customer may want a shoe with no animal products, but the company making that shoe may make their materials from pure petroleum products in a sweatshop. You have to grapple with a lot of different aspects now.” Jones points out that some companies that are considered green, such as Dansko, do use animal products. “While that may count against them when it comes to animal rights, they’re still highly rated in other categories,” he points out.
 The race to be green has begun.
Not surprisingly, some companies have taken advantage of the confusion. “When companies discovered that consumers in general were interested in green product, they had meetings about what to do to address that demand. The expensive option was to make their plants and practices eco-friendly, and the cheap option was to ask their PR department to put in a bunch of overtime to make whatever they were already doing look good. And many brands have been successful in doing the cheap option.” Determining who’s fudging isn’t always easy. “The sticky part is that, for any retailer trying to investigate this on their own, they’ll visit brand websites and discover that everyone says they’re responsible. I heard a Chevron ad recently that sounded so great, I wanted to support them for their thoughtful and reflective approach to energy. The problem is that the hard data shows they’re one of the five worst environmental offenders out there. And that’s why you get a cynical consumer base that’s paranoid about greenwashing and calls everyone out on the smallest transgression.”
IT ISN’T EASY BUYING GREEN
To complicate matters further, footwear as a category may be one of the most difficult to green. A single shoe can feature more than 100 components, some of which are easy to green and some of which are not. In an attempt to sort out the true green from the eco-unfriendly, Jones has been ranking consumer products ranging from frozen pizza to audio equipment for over a decade. On his site betterworldshopper.org, he gives Birkenstock, Teva, Ugg, Earth, Ecolution, No Sweat and Blackspot grades of A- or higher. But even he admits the site isn’t a perfect solution, as he only covers 20 footwear brands.
The good news is that more and more footwear brands are pursuing green certifications, making it easier for consumers to determine a brand’s eco-friendliness. “Green America [greenamericatoday.org] has the National Green Pages, and any company listed is certified and can use their logo. Both Teva and Ugg are Green America-certified. A new kid on the block is B Community [bcorporation.net]. They require companies to meet a list of standards, and also work with them to meet them. Once they’ve reached a certain level of greenness, a company can use their logo.”
 TALK IT OUT
But one of the most important things retailers can do in greening their business is to simply relax a little. Showing that you’re making an effort, even if you’re less than perfect in your green practices, counts for a lot. “Make a little postcard or label to tout the benefits of a shoe, explaining what it has to offer the environment or its impact on people. There are plusses and minuses to every option, so just be honest about it.” Jones to points to Timberland’s “nutritional” labeling as an example of the transparency consumers are looking for. “People need to have open lines of communication between the retailer and the consumer to establish trust. Often I see retailers doing good things in their store but not communicating that to their customers. One local business here put up a bulletin board that lists all the green things they’re doing, from replacing the carpet with a recycled materials rug to offering discounts to customers who ride their bikes. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re trying to be more eco-friendly and you’re expressing to the customer that you’re interested in them. Put out a suggestion box, find ways to involve them and educate them.”
While informing your customers about your own green practices should be easy, filling them in on the green practices of every brand you carry could become a full time job. But Jones says a little time spent sleuthing may be enough. “Run it backwards. Go to Google, type in the name and add social responsibility or environmental responsibility, and find sites that don’t link back to the brand’s Web site. You can get a sense of whether or not the company has problems, and maybe find news stories about how well they’re doing. If they’re not doing well, you’ll find boycott pages.” And if you decide not to carry a popular brand because it isn’t green, let your customers know. “Don’t just say you don’t carry it, let them know you’ve decided not to carry it until it has better business practices. It’s another way to communicate to consumers that you’re taking these issues seriously.”
 LIGHT GREEN IS GOOD TO GO
Most importantly, don’t worry about being perceived as an eco movement dilettante. “It is possible to dabble at the beginning. Stock a handful of green brands, maybe one that’s very green, one that’s medium green and one that’s light green, and put them all on display together, explaining what the differences are. See where your consumers land.”
And if they only opt for the light green version, don’t give up on green. “I like the idea of simple living, but if you play it out too far, you’ll conclude the world would be better off if you didn’t exist. You don’t want everyone to minimize their lives so much, and it doesn’t make sense for your business, either. That’s a problem with all movements, a tendency to see things in black or white. There’s room for everyone to get on board, instead of condemning someone as evil if they go to Wal-Mart.”
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