Lynn Fogarty's List: Green Sites

• So don’t count. Just do.

   

  I can’t do everything. I can do some things. I will do them imperfectly and irregularly, but I will keep doing things. When the world starts to overwhelm you too, take a deep breath, take one step out on that high and slender edge and don’t look down. We’re not saving the world all at once. We’re just going to walk to the recycle bin.

• Some countries and city governments have banned use of plastic bags, as the recognition that plastic bags have been clogging our environment has finally become apparent. A company called Simply Green Solutions offers up 100% post-consumer non-woven bags that can have any sort of imprinting on them. Use of these bags in a handful of stores (Whole Foods, Albertsons, and more) can get you a refund of about 5 to 10 cents per bag of groceries too! A green manufacturer buys up plastic bags, plastic pipes and junk materials, and breaks it down into a thin plastic substance called Polypropelyne. Nearly anything can be made from this material, and bags of any size with any amount of buttons, pockets, zippers or handles can be created. Consumers, if provided with these bags through our client channels, will be able to reuse the bags anywhere they please while also saving money and receiving a minor brand message along the way.

• With apologies to Kermit the Frog but not Staples, today it is easy being green and it usually reduces cost. All it takes is a little effort and a good supplier.

• 8. Given that people will, realistically, have trouble affording you, be generous. Very generous. And if you do this with free stuff and loyalty programs, rather than price reductions, people will love you all the more. Price reductions cheapen your brand; thoughtfully architected giveaways feel like gifts and create deep feelings of attachment.
   
   During the Great Depression, movie theaters used to give away sets of silverware -- piece by piece, week by week -- and played to full houses even in the worst of times. Sampling is one of the most powerful known tactics for food products -- 24 percent of people, when given an in-store sample of a product, will buy it instead of the product they intended to buy. So give things away. Give freely and cleverly, and people will flock to your brand, especially in times like these, when a generous sample will take on heightened significance to a heart more accustomed to privations.
• 10. Because, in fact, the current economic climate is a direct result of our previous excesses. And a correction is actually a good thing. So think hard about what you're trying to sell. Question it from every angle, and ask yourself it it's truly necessary. Change is afoot.

• All of the core tenets of sustainability are consistent with a less "consumptive" lifestyle and a more high-quality offering, so if you're in this space, you're probably already poised for success during an economic downturn.
• Now is the time to ask yourself some serious questions about your product offerings, your brand, and your messaging -- "quality" is a core conscious consumer value, and will become even more so as people become (by necessity) increasingly selective about what they buy. Patagonia has actually elected to halt growth altogether -- they've reduced their clothing line by 30 percent, proclaiming that people simply do not need that much stuff, and that their products are made to last. As the recession continues, people will become less and less willing to buy items that do not feel lasting, substantial, and soul-nourishing. And they'll become even more annoyed at the standard tactics and tone of traditional "push" marketing.
• 6. You've probably got less money to spend on marketing these days, but social networks are a powerful way to spread the word. Pay attention to digital outreach, and two-way communications within the digital space. People who have incorporated sustainability into their identities feel great about touting products in this space -- it's still so difficult to find great "responsible" products and services out there that conscious consumers tend to do a lot of talking within their networks about what they've found. And a great find reflects well on a person's sensibilities and, crucially, their values -- unlike purchases in the vast unsustainable space, which merely identify a person as a consumer.
   
   So master the digital space -- start Twittering, develop a Facebook fan base, keep a transparent two-way conversation going with your core consumers (and cultivate evangelists whenever possible), make your own website compellingly interactive, and you'll find that your marketing dollars go a lot further.

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• 3. Be socially responsible. Talk about it. Be more socially responsible than ever. Talk about it even more. Conscious consumers care much more about a company's internal socially responsible actions (how they treat their employees) than about their environmentally responsible ones. And this sentiment will only grow stronger during a period when job security is at a 35-year low.
• So now is a good time to look deep into your operating principles and find real -- not just gimmicky -- ways to make employees feel valued and cared about.