Originally published January 2008, Today's Garden Center

It's not easy being green...

If NBC can turn the peacock green for a week then why can’t the ‘green’ industry parlay this global desire to ‘save the earth’ into increased sales? Here are a couple of reasons: first, we haven’t quite learned how to define our business in terms like ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ and ‘earth friendly’. Secondly, and most alarmingly, as an industry we are one of the worst offenders. We are sitting on a public relations nightmare.

Is this an exaggeration? Think about all the plastic cell packs, trays, pots, plant tags and labels that end up in landfills. Not bad enough? They are petroleum based! Spin it in reverse and we could be contributing to the extinction of penguins and supporting terrorist states.

We use more water, spread more chemicals and annually cut down enough Christmas trees to deforest a small continent. If you could calculate such a thing, our collected ‘carbon footprint’ might be the size of Texas. Think about the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, fuel consumption and freight used in transporting the typical plant. Scary stuff.

Today’s American consumer is torn between consuming and global consciousness. We know that we should support ‘sustainability’, but hardly have a clue as to what it means. According to Wikipedia defines sustainable development as that which "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Why is all this important? It matters to your customers.

A December 30, 2007 Herald- Tribune ‘What’s hot; what’s not in 2008’ feature was littered with buzz words like ‘green building’, ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘smart homes’. In the same article it also suggested that gardens and outdoor rooms would continue to grow, while gardening as a national trend is declining. Ouch!

OK, so as consumers we want to buy, but we don’t want to see ourselves as contributing to the loss of the polar ice cap.

What to do? It is important to be pro-active. Now is the time to address these issues head-on. It is critical to position your business (in your customer’s eye) as an outlet for them to express themselves as a conscious contributor in saving the planet, while buying more of your stuff.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

Reuse, renew and recycle: post a position statement on your website. Encourage your customers to bring back pots, cell packs and trays. Make the drop-off point obvious and complemented with an explanatory sign. Next, you’ll have to figure out what to do with all those pots.

We practice sustainable growth: again, post a position statement on your website. I would also recommend incorporating a graphic onto your store signage. It is helpful to create a simple and understandable example. Here are a couple – real trees versus ‘everlasting’ – fake trees are petroleum based and made in China; real trees are farmed and replanted. For every one you buy, two more are planted. Same thing with shade trees - plant a tree; every tree you buy means two more are planted, plus shade means cooler houses and reduces the need for air conditioning.

Go organic: safe solutions for pest and disease control. Fresh fruits and vegetable you can grow yourself. Now is the time to promote natural fertilizers and compost. You can also help your customers learn how to compost. It is a real problem for homeowners to deal with lawn trimmings and leaf removal. Solve a problem, sell a product.

Native plants: encourage your homeowners to replace turf with ornamental grasses, native perennials and other water-wise alternatives.

Xeriscaping: drought and conservation are an issue in just about every market. Replace turf with stone or a mulched bed planted with low-maintenance plants. This will reduce the need for fertilizers, water and chemicals, while naturally reducing weeds.

Cardboard trays: consider replacing the plastic carry out trays with cardboard. This is a real hands-on way for you to live your promise. Trays can be printed with your ecological position statement, web address and logo.

Utilities: consider moving from an overhead watering system to something more efficient. Of course everyone should change lights to new, longer lasting fluorescents.

Christmas lights: the new LED Christmas lights replacing the old energy hogs should be a boon to holiday light sales for the next few years.

Plant a tree: buy promotional trees to retail for around $25-$50 and blow out as many as you can. Don’t forget to recycle those pots. Perfect for Earth Day and Arbor Day (remember that one?).

Natural solutions to a Glade world: fragrant plants – the natural alternative to a chemical world. Can you believe the number of Febreze and room freshener television ads? Perhaps there is a big market you can tap into.

Buy locally: with rising fuel costs, questions about Wal-Mart and concern over materials from China you, the local guy, should really play up that fact. Let people know that you are a local grower, or that you support local growers and not large corporations like those other guys. You are your message, so get out there and let them know that your business is the kind of business consumers should support.

As a marketing guy I think it is important for you and your company to get on top of these issues and then scream it to your customers. Signage, buttons, mailers, newsletters, signs, and banners – you name it; throw the kitchen sink at it. Imagine creating the connection of shopping your store and slowing down global warming.

I am not suggesting that you fabricate information, but rather dig deep inside to consider what it all means to you and your community. Are you alarmed about global warming? How about the dwindling population of honey bees? Disappearing butterflies? That is just the tip of the (disappearing) iceberg. Tell your story.

Remember, if you are going to talk the talk, you’ve go to walk the walk. Peace.