For younger buyers and the Baby Boomers, “Thinking green has alot of steam.” Boomers either invented or popularized tree hugging, Earth Day, back to the land, etc. The 20 somethings have really picked up on these concepts and interpreted them to this whole renewed “Green” movement which substainable design is an intergral part. Sustainable design is going mainstream, becoming available at mass-market retailers like Target, Ikea and Crate & Barrel.The shift to green is “not green for green’s sake,” says Crate & Barrel company spokesperson Vicki Lang. “We are responding to consumer interest, and it’s the right thing to do.”
One problem the industry faces is the lack of standards defining what’s green and what isn’t. To help clarify green guidelines, Target is creating what it calls a “cross-functional team” to evaluate sustainable products and procedures.
Small designers who originated the movement are skeptical that major retailers can truly offer products that are sustainable at such low price points. What these retailers are offering “appears to be 90 percent marketing and 10 percent a real exploration of concrete advances in materials and production techniques,” says Jesse Johnson, CEO of Q Collection, whose all-green line includes a $7,000 bookcase.
Source: BusinessWeek Online, Ernest Beck (11/06/2007)
Posted on November 8th, 2007 by Brent DeRobertis
Filed under: Trends
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