Green Marketing

Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced in an environmentally friendly way, such as:

• Being manufactured in a sustainable fashion
• Not containing toxic materials or ozone-depleting substances
• Able to be recycled and/or is produced from recycled materials
• Being made from renewable materials (such as bamboo, etc.)
• Not making use of excessive packaging
• Being designed to be repairable and not “throwaway”

This type of marketing can be more expensive, but it can also be profitable due to the increasing demand. For example, products made locally in North America tend to be more expensive than those made overseas using cheap labour, but they have a much smaller carbon footprint because they don’t have to fly across the globe to get here. For some consumers and business owners, the environmental benefit outweighs the price difference.

A model green marketing mix contains four “P’s”:

Product: A producer should offer ecological products which not only must not contaminate the environment but should protect it and even liquidate existing environmental damages.

Price: Prices for such products may be a little higher than conventional alternatives. But target groups like for example LOHAS are willing to pay extra for green products.

Place: A distribution logistics is of crucial importance; main focus is on ecological packaging. Marketing local and seasonal products e.g. vegetables from regional farms is more easy to be marketed “green” than products imported.

Promotion: A communication with the market should put stress on environmental aspects, for example that the company possesses a CP certificate or is ISO 14000 certified. This may be publicized to improve a firm’s image. Furthermore, the fact that a company spends expenditures on environmental protection should be advertised. Third, sponsoring the natural environment is also very important. And last but not least, ecological products will probably require special sales promotions

Impacts or Importance of Green Marketing:

Green marketing affects positively the health of people and the ecological environment. People are aware of pure products and pure methods of producing, using, and disposing the products. It encourages integrated efforts for purity in production and consumption as well.

We can witness following impacts of green marketing:

1. Now, people are insisting pure products – edible items, fruits, and vegetables based on organic farming. The number of people seeking vegetarian food is on rise.
2. Reducing use of plastics and plastic-based products.
3. Increased consumption of herbal products instead of processed products.
4. Recommending use of leaves instead of plastic pieces; jute and cloth bags instead of plastic carrying bags.
5. Increasing use of bio-fertilizers (made of agro-wastes and wormy-composed) instead of chemical fertilizers (i.e. organic farming), and minimum use of pesticides.
6. Worldwide efforts to recycle wastes of consumer and industrial products.
7. Increased use of herbal medicines, natural therapy, and Yoga.
8. Strict provisions to protect forests, flora and fauna, protection of the rivers, lakes and seas from pollutions.
9. Global restrictions on production and use of harmful weapons, atomic tests, etc. Various organisations of several countries have formulated provisions for protecting ecological balance.
10. More emphasis on social and environmental accountability of producers.
11. Imposing strict norms for pollution control. Consideration of pollution control efforts and eco-technology in awarding IS), ISO 9000, or ISO 14000 certificates and other awards.
12. Declaration of 5^thJune as the World Environment Day.
13. Strict legal provisions for restricting duplication or adulteration.
14. Establishing several national and international agencies to monitor efforts and activities of business firms in relation pollution control and production of eco-friendly products.