Tweet

Are Eco Friendly Products Fact Or Fiction?

Guest post by: aaron herman

Article Overview: The buzz surrounding eco friendly products is huge and ever increasing, as is the number of green products available on the market. But the sad truth is that most of the latest green products fail in at least one of several ways. Don't be fooled by the latest green gadget!

Are Eco Friendly Products Fact Or Fiction?

The buzz surrounding eco friendly products is huge and ever increasing, as is the number of green products available on the market. But the sad truth is that most of the latest green gadgets fail in at least one of several ways. Many eco friendly products are very overpriced. Some manufacturers seem to think that just because their product is eco friendly, consumers are willing to pay top dollar for it. In today's economy, the average consumer can't afford to spend more money on a product just because it may be good for the environment. This is perfectly reasonable on the part of the consumer, after all, who wants to spend money they don't have!

A perfect example is reusable shopping bags. At an average price of $1 or more per bag, with most consumers needing 5-10 bags for their trips to the grocery store, this seems like a lot to shell out just for bags. Now, it may be noted that many stores are now charging for plastic "single use" bags, but at around 5 cents per bag, this is a much smaller bullet to bite.

You're now saying "Hold on! Resuable bags are just that...reusable!" Yes, you're absolutely right. But most shoppers don't see it that way. They see it as a $10 expense instead of a 50 cent expense.

The mark of great eco friendly product is one that has a LOW UP FRONT COST. Consumers usually have a "here and now" approach, and will be more inclined to purchase an eco friendly product if the price is close enough to the alternative to justify it.

Another sad but true fact is that many products that claim to be eco friendly are just the opposite. When going green, you must look at more than the product itself. Every green product is made in one way or another. But does the impact of the manufacturing process outweigh the impact of the product itself? If a product contains 50% recycled material, but is made in a factory that sends massive amounts of pollution into the air, is it worth it?

Here's an example. In an article found at worldwatch.org, it's pointed out that a major Chinese manufacturer of solar panels is at the same time dumping the waste from their factory on the surrounding villages, resulting in the poisoning of both crops and residents. You could argue that this is a result of lackluster environmental concerns in China...but where do you think all those solar panels go? They are purchased by the eco conscious western world, Europe etc. So those of us that talk aboutgoing green, are contributing to the destruction of another part of the world at the same time.

So, why am I telling you all this? It's not to discourage consumers from going green. It's not to scare you into thinking we're all doomed, no matter what. There ARE truly green products out there, and at a very reasonable price. But you can't just scoop any old thing with an "eco friendly" label off the shelf and think you're doing your part. Truly going green means putting in the time and effort to find the right products, at the right price, for your needs. It can be done, but is has to be done right!

Related Articles
  Green Power; A Home Built Headache?
  Article Marketing Tips - Answer Burning Questions
  Financial Fact and Fiction
  Writing Tips: Variety, White Space, Pacing, Conflict and PONR
  When Bad Things Happen to Good Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
  Incorporation Separating Fact From Fiction
  Plug Your Book
  Marketing With Eco-Friendly Brochures
  Job Number One
  Should You Switch to Selling Green?
  Are Green Promotional Items Worth the Extra Effort?
  Eco Friendly Clothes are the Future
  Do web based Software Products are Reliable
  Writing for Profit and Pleasure
  How To Generate Environmentally Friendly Small Business Ideas
  Empirical Skepticism
  "Best Business Book 2008" (Hands Down)
  Self-Publishing Success: How You Can Earn $30,000 a Month with POD Publishing
  The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity
  Top Franchise Industries Poised for Growth in 2011

Article Tags: eco friendly products, going green, green gadgets



Related Forum Posts
Advertising is the essential - Yes, for sure without advertising there is no world of Market. In this busy world no one is having time to know about the products on there own. The only way they get to know the products are Ads. Many of them get attracted to the Products by the way there are promoted in the Ads. Products ranging from 1 Rupee to 1 Lac is getting Promoted. It’s enssential
Starting New Business Venture would like some tips - Hello I am new to this website and just want to say its awesome!! currently I am involved in a new business venture, I am new to the business world and I would like some extra help on this subject. Our company specializes in Custom Gold Foil Printed Ribbon, and Personalized Products (Napkins, Buttons Etc). so if anyone has any ideas of where to go, who to contact, or even if your looking for these types of products yourself, let me know and any tips to help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Social Networking and You - Thank you Mal The Fact is that these predictions are already being proven true so much so that my partners and i have developed a new system we call Social Impact Marketing , and using this system we have been able to get some amazing results dropping a sites Alexa from 3.8 million right down to 153,752 in just over 7 weeks and increasing it's page views from 52 per week to between 60,000 and 112,000+ per day and unique visitors up from 12 (mostly ourselves) per week to around 600 to 1000 unique visits per day, to prove it's not a fluke we then went on to do the same for 2 other sites. of course basic SEO was still used but the main effect could be traced to SIM, which is a simple system to implement but requires the use of a team comprising of at least 3 - 4 people working in unison. Just how far we are able to push a site using SIM is yet to be established as the sites used in our testing of the system continue to improve daily and until they peak we cannot establish a benchmark however they have already passed the achievable levels using the basic SEO applied to them..
Re: Service Or Product? - Very insightful, and I totally aggree, service first... it is a substantial foundation for any business. Products and service go hand in hand to make a business really successful. Nevertheless quality control for both is also actually a must; you will never offer services that are not par with the standards neither with products. Focusing on the product aspect, in stores or in deliveries or in any other way you get to sell your products there is a pinch of service involved. Even after a product is sold "customer service hotlines" is another form of service buyers somehow expect from you. So IMHO service or product are like chicken and eggs... lol,,,
niche forum categories - I think Kevin just touched on the point that I was going make... and that is developing 'categories' that stick. Sales and Marketing may be too broad for example. However I can almost guarantee you that you would see many more sign-ups if you tailored a category to 'internet marketing' for newbies. I've seen this work on other forums, however, [i:1i903wkn]it can get a little frantic[/i:1i903wkn]... Fine tuning the categories, or expanding the scope should be effective. I think a lot of IM folks are surfing right on by because they're not finding what they're looking for here... Just a few thoughts: Better Blogging Developing Info Products Internet Marketing Presentation Skills More How to's Another point is... a lot of people don't know that they can benefit from participating in forums. The signature links to their site - if they have one - can / should be motivation enough to get more involved. The more internet savvy members that have signatures seem to stick around more... Don't you think?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Top Ten Home-Based Businesses

Paint A Word Picture - Excite Your Customer

SEO Gurus, Software and Ebooks

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.