Being Green and Being Commercial

Wired this month has a positively green feature on ethical consumerism and the role of technology and commercialism in bringing about a sea-change in consumer attitudes and behaviour

Here is an excerpt which really resonated with me:

Green-minded activists failed to move the broader public not because they were wrong about the problems, but because the solutions they offered were unappealing to most people. They called for tightening belts and curbing appetites, turning down the thermostat and living lower on the food chain. They rejected technology, business, and prosperity in favor of returning to a simpler way of life. No wonder the movement got so little traction. Asking people in the world's wealthiest, most advanced societies to turn their backs on the very forces that drove such abundance is naive at best.

With climate change hard upon us, a new green movement is taking shape, one that embraces environmentalism's concerns but rejects its worn-out answers. Technology can be a font of endlessly creative solutions. Business can be a vehicle for change. Prosperity can help us build the kind of world we want. Scientific exploration, innovative design, and cultural evolution are the most powerful tools we have. Entrepreneurial zeal and market forces, guided by sustainable policies, can propel the world into a bright green future.

In the UK, the annual Co-Op Ethical COnsumerism report published in December 2005, found that almost 5 out of 10 UK consumers wanted to shop ethically but either did not know how or were not motivated to turn desire into action.

My humble prediction? A host of more commercially minded ethical marketing mechanics, consumption guides, intermediaries, portals and open communities will explode into the UK and other mature markets in the next year...