This Monday the New York Times published the article, “At Home Depot, How Green Is That Chainsaw?”. The article provides an overview of the emerging clash between environmentalists and product marketers over how “green” some products really are. Jim O’Donnell a manager with the Sierra Stock Fund, a $50 million portfolio of environmentally friendly companies was quoted, “Everybody is in a mad scramble to say how green they are.”
Referencing The Home Depot as one of the firms under scrutiny, the article quoted Ron Jarvis, a senior vice president who managers the Home Depot Eco Options program…“In somebody’s mind, the products they were selling us were environmentally friendly…Most of what you see
today in the green movement is voodoo marketing…If they say their product makes the sky bluer and the grass greener, that’s just not good enough.”Mr. Jarvis was referring to the onslaught of criticism that some products listed in his firms 2,500 Eco Options program are not all “environmentally preferable”. The movement to reap benefits from “going green” quickly is impeding the ability to accurately verify whether or not a product is truly green. And, what standards exist to certify if products are truly green? Is an outdoor mat for shoes made from bio-based materials more green than one made from recycled plastics? Is an electric chainsaw preferable over a gas chainsaw because it does not use oil or gas?
According to the Home Depot they are working closely with the private certification company, Scientific Certification Systems to “develop new broad-based standards”. Scientific Certification Systems will evaluate and “grade” products based upon their environmental impact over an entire product life cycle. They will also investigate the production processes and product end-of-life disposition options as a way of including sustainability metrics into their evaluation process. This certainly adds more complexity and robustness to The Home Depot’s Eco Options program. Their challenge will be how best to serve as a gatekeeper between consumers demanding greener products and manufacturers, some of which legitimately produce environmentally preferable products and some of which have simply caught the Irrational Greenness buzz and seeking to reap quick near term profits.
To legitimize the greening of industry and the economy, further standards and qualifications will be required to certify what is green from what is green-washed. Firms like Scientific Certification Systems will become increasingly important in this process, as will consumers, retailers and government. Are mega-retailers like The Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods among others moving to quickly to sell “greener products”? Should the onerous of qualifying and certifying products be on retailers, government, manufacturers or independent rating firms?
As the green market unfolds, the winners, in our view, will be those firms that think through the total supply chain and life-cycle issues associated with their products and services. These firms will also strategically question other questions concerning materials selection, consumption of materials, waste and social equity. Smart firms are beginning to look at sustainability, not just as producing a greener product, but from a total system perspective, ensuring they can claim true environmental and social gains. The smart firms are asking themselves:
- Are green products simply about market differentiation and short term profit?
- Or is there more to green products from a quality, performance and sustainability perspective?
- As retailers, manufacturers, energy suppliers, etc. how do we legitimately claim our products are green?
- How do we certify our products as having green attributes or performance benefits by independent and trusted advisors?
- What is the risk for having labeled a product or service as green when it shouldn’t have been?
- Are our products achieving a true social need, or are they only banking green because they are marketed as green?
The winning firms, those that continue to grow and outperform their peers over a long-term horizon, will be those that can legitimately claim their products superior quality, performance and social products. Doing so will require them to heed to the short-term “greed for green” that is infiltrating mass consumerism.
Mark C. Coleman
Senior Associate, AHC Group, Inc.
Mark@ahcgroup.com
1 comment:
Mark,
When it comes to wood products, Master Logger Certification's third party verification guarantees that from the moment the wood is harvested, until it arrives at the mill, it's certified. We need more companies to push back at the mills like retail giant L.L. Bean. http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2007/06/ll-bean-drops-l.html As loggers, we are struggling to make a living in a certified world, banking on the future demands of the businesses you work with. If big business doesn't create across the board "green" practices in answer to consumer demands, and be true to them, what good is the struggle of the logger protecting the forests with BMP's that bring us less profit than our non-certified counterparts.
As the Procurement Manager for Maine Custom Woodlands I speak with landowners every day, 97% do not understand what certified wood is. They understand the general meaning of the term "green", but really do not understand all that goes into delivering a certified wood product. We are a small struggling few trying to educate on both ends of the chain!
www.masterloggerscertification.org
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