Like all things, any "green" product will enjoy success when it costs less yet does more than its competition. I’m all for using products that consume less electricity but that’s more because I hate paying my electric bill and wish it was lower each month.
One of the great promises of green products is that they save people money over time. Not all of them do, though. The non-abrasive organic dish soap that my better half picked up at Whole Foods sucks at cleaning dishes but it cost twice as much as regular dish soap. I wouldn’t buy it again.
A recent survey of 5,000 people on the subject of green products (ones that use less energy and are more friendly to the environment) found that 12% of people are willing to pay a premium for green products (that is, they would buy the dish soap), 41% want to do their part but don’t want to pay a whole lot extra, and the rest don’t give a good god damn about anyone but themselves aren’t overly concerned.
From an electronics standpoint, Apple and Compaq have the most green-conscious customers and more and more companies are expected to engage in environmentally friendly initiatives because it’s a popular trend nowadays, which leads to an interesting point. According to Ars Technica,
"What Forrester Research doesn’t address is the need for vigilance and proper product evaluation. Terms like green are currently flung around with a vague nod towards the idea that "green" means environmentally friendly in some way. We already see clear disparities between how various groups evaluate the meaning of the term—Apple leads the PC market in terms of eco-conscious buyers, yet Greenpeace bashes Apple every chance it gets, all in the name of protecting the environment. In the long run, confusion over whether any given product is actually environmentally friendly may serve primarily to confuse customers and work against the overall goal of improving customer education and manufacturing practices. Green may be the new black, but it won’t matter much unless the market demands real progress over buzzwords and provocative claims."
Right on, man. It’s like, "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it green I will. I got spare time," am I right?
New report indicates consumers are more interested in "green" electronics [Ars Technica]