Two weeks ago I had lunch with two young men from Singapore. They were doing a tour of the western U.S. to work to identify green business opportunities they might bring back to Singapore and startup. By their comments, whether real or just the observations of their age bracket, the people of Singapore are unwittingly green since the government already has many high standards by which it maintains a green perspective. That put these two young men at a distinct marketing disadvantage since there was no local flash point by which to ignite a "change" or "improvement" mentality.
Only days later, I was contacted by someone who wanted to do something about the appalling amount of pollution that is now found in West Africa as a result of the provision of plastic shopping bags (replaces woven baskets) and plastic water bottles (gaining access to clean drinking water). West Africans have very little experience with trash that does not decompose and as a result the countryside is becoming littered quite heavily. Her hope was to find a way to collect that trash and convert it to some sort of good, thereby doing a service for the environment and a service for the economy in the form of jobs and in the case of West Africa, economic development.
At the same time, we're in the process of reviewing all of our GreenSmart messaging. Through the process, I've come to learn that our methods of being open and honest about what we are doing, although in vogue via transparency (if only Wall Street had that), also define an authentic position for our Company. By just being who we've always been, we have an "approachable", "neighbor next door" attitude about us. (Who knew?)
I've also come to learn that this is what the consumer is looking from the Brands they buy. Spending Friday at Cal (U.C. Berkeley) at the Play Green Festival, we had the chance to talk to thousands of student consumers who desperately want to be green, but, don't know what it really means when they are consumers. Even adults, with all of their years of shopping experience, are confused with the overall terms, green, sustainable, natural, etc. It's not easy to navigate by any stretch.
Within all of this noise, GreenSmart will continue to be a beacon of sincerity and clarity. We'll be introducing some pretty revolutionary material for bags shortly to stand alongside our Bottles 2 Bags products. We're having conversations with all kinds of entrepreuners interested in somehow moving their efforts forward, using the GreenSmart philosophy or the GreenSmart products as part of their effort. This type of entrepreneurial enthusiasm is exactly what the Global Village needs to move forward. How exciting.
And if you're confused about any terms, visit the GreenSmart Glossary for a refresher.
