Ecolonomics

The topic "green", meaning the use of enviromentally-friendly products in the home or business, is gaining more and more attention these days.  And it's about time, too.  If we're lucky, we might yet reverse Earth's ecological tailspin, set into motion by our collective disregard for what is right not just convenient for ourselves this very instant.   

The good news in all of this may be there is probably tremendous opportunity in the green movement.   

You don't have to pretend to be a statistician to see that people "get it" now more than ever.  Further, the eco-good-guy movement is bound to gain more attention as the Gen X, Y and n (I'm assuming there's another "generation" letter out there, but have not been keeping up with the latest research--I must confess--so I'll just use the variable "n" moniker for now) folks grow older and hopefully wiser, and the Boomers with their wild, "live in the now" ways begin to finally retire, in the more final sense of the word.

The other day my wife and I were stocking up at Teavana and some Gen X/Y/n kid stopped in to chat it up with one of the gals who was brewing our tea--our tea'rista if you will.  She had had recently burned her arm apparently and the visiting young'un proceeded to to list out about 4 alternative health treatments she could undertake to speed the healing process .  I was pleasantly surprised to hear this coming out of someone who had just barely reached their 20's.   Even the newborns are green these days.  (Why are alternative health treatments green, you ask?  You be the judge.)

Meanwhile there are other similar movements gaining a head of steam, such as: solar energy, biodiesel and ethanol, the commercialization of automotive hybrid technology and so on.  It was only a few years ago that it would be impossible to paint the inside of a home with several different shades and have them all be low/non VOC paints.  Now I think you can get every shade you want and still keep your family and friends healthy even if they do breathe while they help you paint. 

"Brilliant!"

In short, I have a feeling that "green" will, over the next several decades, connote more than just something which is ecologically friendly.  It will also be good for the pocketbook.

At one point, a term was coined for this.  It was "ecolonomics".

One word of caution, though, for any out there who can't quite kill the Greedy Bug within (that same bug that got us into the environmental morass we now find ourselves).  People who buy and live green are smart. They know quality when they see it.  So don't call something green or healthy unless it truly is and you can back your claims.  Sooner or late you'll be found out and eventually embarrassed (or worse, ostracized from the marketplace).

In any case, there's more good news: the upside to all this healthy stuff is probably so great that you can have your hempseed muffin and eat it too.  Translation: you can do good things and make lots of money. 

So what are you waiting for?  Get out there and prosper while doing something good for the world!

Link: Green Cleaning Network Launches

A few green bookmarks: http://del.icio.us/hanseric/green

Comments

[Fred Moyer]

There was a recent article floating around the net about a 40% efficiency solar power cell. That's a great step in the right direction.