Product Sustainability Roundtable in Lancaster, Pa., ...showed how confused consumers are about the terms green, natural, organic, and sustainable. Here are a few highlights of their comments:"All fruits and vegetables are organic since you grow them, right?"
"Natural has pesticides? Could organic have pesticides?""Frankly, I'm surprised consumers aren't more confused about what green and sustainable mean. We work in the sustainability field and even in this room, we can't agree on what sustainability means. It's our fault that consumers are confused. It's chaos in our own companies and it's chaos in the marketplace."
"It's natural, but it's not. I don't know."
"Green is overhyped. Who can really tell you if something is green or not?"
"I don't have a clue."
The discussion that followed revealed that in some companies, sustainability includes the usual suspects like LCAs and energy efficiency. At other companies, safety and social responsibility are also included in the sustainability bucket.
There just doesn't seem to be a standard definition, and the result is, well, confusion.
Read more at: greenbiz.com