Canadians Cynical About Green Products

by Darren

Hey, when the Canadians are right, they’re right. And to me, the news that they tend to be cynical about green products strikes me as a correct response. Looking over the types of products that many companies are claiming are “green”, it’s easy to see the marketers are cynical themselves. They hope people will buy products based on the idea of “feeling good” about their purchases and relegating their brain to the dustbin as they buy products based on their emotions.

A staggering number of Canadians want to buy green, but don’t trust the label.

More than 85 per cent of those surveyed said that there need to be labelling regulations, so that when green claims are made, consumers know what they mean. And almost as many said governments should provide clear guidelines for corporations, so that everyone is on the same page when claims are made that a product is “green,” “organic” or results in “low emissions.”

I couldn’t agree more. In fact, labeling is a huge issue and trust even bigger. The companies that short change consumers and misrepresent products not only hurt the customer, they hurt themselves and the overall green movement.

These consumers are even convinced it doesn’t cost more to make green products, so they aren’t sure why they should pay more. I think these are all valid complaints and anyone pushing eco-friendly products will have to answer these questions at some point.