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How Income Affects Household Energy Choices
If the efforts of government and private groups to promote innovative energy strategies are to be effective, they need to know who cares the most about saving energy and using alternative energy sources, and also who is most aware of the issues involved.

The Powers that Be
It’s not my responsibility! That’s apparently the way many consumers feel when it comes to putting a high priority on using renewable energy.

Laundry, the Environment, and Mass Merchandisers
Laundry Care is the largest category of household care products, according to Euromonitor. Packaged Facts projects that sales in the category will rise to $9.7 billion by 2011.

The distance to the laundry room
Green detergents also have a slight edge among homeowners. Earthsense found that 33 percent of detergent buyers who own their homes bought eco-friendly detergents, compared with 29 percent of renters.

An Expert Opinion
Marketing Green explores how to successfully market “green” products or services to consumers and drive mass market consumption.

The Compost Pile
Green marketing attracts lots of naysayers. Study after study shows that much of the public is skeptical about companies’ efforts to jump on the green bandwagon.

and more...

Identifying the Environmental Voter
When looking for voting blocs who might be interested in hearing about their plans for dealing with the environment, candidates may want to look to women, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and American Indians.

Whatever happened to the Green Party?
You don’t hear much about the Green Party anymore as mainstream candidates pay more attention to environmental issues.

Other Things on Their Minds
There are fewer people who say the environment has little effect on their voting decision than those who say it does.

From Field to Freezer to Table

Americans spend in the vicinity of $9 billion a year on frozen meals. Though the segment is large, not all parts of it are growing quickly, or at all, but natural and organic frozen dinners are doing quite well.

Why Mom and Dad like Amy

Though men and women are at a fairly similar level of buying eco-friendly frozen dinners, the reasons they do so vary a bit more.

Pitching Green Feature.

Lawn Rangers
Generally, ecological appeals resonate better with younger consumers, but the best customers for lawn and landscape services tend to be older, more affluent households.

Women with Green Thumbs
Companies seeking to market ecological lawn or landscaping products and services may want to appeal to the lady of the house.

Who's Green
Do you know your company’s score?
Climate Counts is a nonprofit collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change.

From the Experts

Jacquelyn Ottman’s predictions for 2008 green marketing

The Grocery Aisle
Some shoppers who have an understanding of what makes food items eco-friendly are regularly putting them in their carts.

Mystery Food
The main story this week evaluates how informed consumers—those who feel comfortable in the knowledge of whether a particular food is eco-friendly or not—choose whether to buy green.

What is organic food?
There are, of course, federal government sites in both the U.S. and Canada that deal with standards and definitions for organic food.

In our last episode . . .
As we saw in the last issue, different grocery products have a different level of green appeal. But it is not just the product that determines the likelihood of an eco-friendly sale, but also the purchaser.

Cultural connections with the Earth may influence grocery shopping
Money isn’t everything. Although price sensitivity plays a major role in sales of natural, organic, local, or fair-trade foods, other factors can have an effect, too.

Absolutely Climate Change
Last issue we reported on the Silk Soymilk campaign for wind energy. Vodka seems like a product that would have a hard time making the green market connection, but late last month Absolut Vodka announced a partnership with Live Earth.

Don’t know, can’t tell
Here’s the system for interpreting the little stickers on fruits and vegetables.

Don’t lose sales to online

Grocers who think that they don’t need to worry about stocking organic products may be giving up customers to the Internet.

Friendly Threads
Americans may be warming to earth-friendly duds. Though organic cotton production is estimated as making up less than one percent of all cotton crops,

My clothes or yours?
Although the 10 percent of people who have purchased eco-friendly clothes for others in the previous month is about the same as the share who buy for themselves, the factors that motivate them differ somewhat.

Who's Green
Sprig, Vivaterra, etc.
It’s getting easier and easier for consumers to find recycled items, not just on the internet, but also in stores. Many times the two work together.

Why Not Nau?
Nau is an outdoor apparel retailer, which launched its company through a blog.

Organic jeans: too green to dye?

Salon recently pointed out that since the Federal Trade Commission has no regulations for organic labeling of clothing...

Americans Have Consensus on Many Issues
There is broad consensus among Americans of all religions and educational levels that environmental issues are having some impact on their quality of life.

Many Religious Groups Agree on Climate Change
The Earthsense survey also asked respondents about their religion and allowed us to crosstab religion and the importance of environmental issues.

Generational differences
Yankelovich reports that older adults (even older than baby boomers) are the ones who are most likely to have made “green upgrades” to their homes,

News of the Wired
Being environmentally conscious may build a hunger for regular information about what’s new.

Around the Neighborhood
For the online respondents surveyed by Earthsense, the most popular source for local news was the “dead tree” option, local newspapers, used by 62 percent.

Who's Green
Even Book Publishers Go Green
The Association of American Publishers has released a Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment, a practical guide to assist publishers in navigating issues related to the development of environmental sustainability practices within the book- publishing industry.

Discovery Planet Green

Getting Involved
Looking at Gallup’s 2007 findings that Americans are losing faith in institutions that are cornerstones of society, ranging from the police to Congress, one might fear that their hope for the future and can-do spirit are likewise on the ropes.

Does Political Party Matter?
When we cross tabulated Earthsense data with self-described political affiliation and those who disagreed with the statement, “It is no use worrying about current events or public affairs; I can’t do anything about them anyway,”...

Who's Green
Marriott Chips In
World Environment Day in 2007 was a reason for Marriott to embrace environmental volunteers.

High Stakes Mistakes
When a bureaucratic mess-up complicates our phone bill, it’s a nuisance.

Gas Prices and Green Driving
The steady creep of gasoline prices has the public thinking of greener automobiles.

He Drove, She Drove
Among people who bought a car in the past year, men were slightly more likely than women to say they purchased an eco-friendly one, according to Earthsense data.

Scooters are the Next Big Thing
Hybrids may be getting all the attention, but scooters may be the next big thing, especially for eco-friendly folks who want to get around town quickly and easily.

Good News/Bad News

There are some excellent organizations out there working to preserve the environment and raise awareness of global climate and other environmental issues.

Where the Environmentally-Minded Browse
Google’s announcement in November 2007 that it would launch a new strategic initiative to foster renewable energy sources that would be cheaper than coal was more than an act of altruism, though it was surely that.

How Green Consumers Use the Internet
Percent of those choosing each item; respondents could choose more than one item.

Microsoft Mixing Messages

In April 2007, Microsoft may have undermined the green credentials it was trying to build through support of Live Earth by driving London commuters to work in a free taxi.

Paying Attention to Health
While there are certainly Americans who partake in clean living, a goodly share of the rest of us have at least one area where we do things that we might be better off not doing.

Kids and Risky Behavior

Health is about more than just diet, and though unhealthy or risky behaviors can cluster, there is no clear delineation between segments

Who’s holding the line on Social Security?

It’s well known that the closer someone is to retirement age, the less likely that person is to be enthusiastic about someone tinkering with Social Security.

Thinking of the Children

Another attribute that correlates with age is the presence of children in the household.

Barnstorming Blues

In 2000, ABC News and the Washington Post began asking people whether they supported or opposed a plan whereby they could invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market.

Who's Green

Time’s fun when you’re having flies

Information technology and eco-friendly don’t seem to be simpatico, but a company named Singlehop, which provides web hosting is trying to change all that.

It’s the End of the World As They Know It, and They Feel Fine
The more people hear and know about global warming, the less they seem to be concerned about it.

Global Warming, Culturally Speaking
American Indians and whites are the two ethnic groups most likely to have heard about global warming or climate change in the week before its survey was taken, according to Earthsense.

Eco-PR
Who hasn’t heard of paparazzi? Well, now there’s ecorazzi, a site that keeps track of the eco-friendly doings of all manner of celebrities.