Green The Style

Plenty of products these days claim to be environmentally friendly, recyclable or biodegradable. And the list of buzzwords for environmental marketing claims continues to grow.

But how many of these claims stretch the truth just to sell more product? By creating a set of regulations, Hubert Humphrey III says he hopes to stop what he calls green-collar crime.

Humphrey, Minnesota’s attorney general, has become a national leader in this quest for consistency and accuracy in the use of environmental claims. He currently heads a task force to address the situation with 10 other state attorneys general.

On behalf of all states, this task force prepared Green Report II, a 50-page list of recommendations on green marketing. The report has been submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consideration and distributed to the corporate world, as well.

“Green Report II goes a long way toward establishing guidelines for marketers,” Humphrey said. “Many companies are ..

Source: environmental marketing claims

While recycling itself is a worthwhile endeavor, when intertwined with charitable organizations, its power for good is taken to far greater heights.

A perfect example has been under way in St. Petersburg, Fla., for several years now. By picking up used paper donated by various companies and eventually hauling it to a local paper company, a developmental training program is helping build better lives for its mentally handicapped trainees.

“It’s really been exciting — much more far-reaching than we ever expected,” said Kathy Roegiers, manager of the local Goodwill Industries’ program. “It has allowed our trainees to be more a part of the community, rather than a burden, which is the ultimate goal for our program.”

When the recycling idea was first conceived, most paper companies told Goodwill that the amount of paper was too small for them to deal with, Roegiers said. However, one local paper company said it would start referring ..

Source: earth news