What, to you and your customers, qualifies a product as "green"?
GDA Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 8/21/2010 7:10:01 AM
Stephanie Fleishman
Stephanie Fleishman
2910 on the Square
Canton, MD
When I think of green, I think of using recycled products, items out there that reuse or modify newspapers, old bottles, vintage buttons, etc. to create something else functional, decorative or wearable. We have not had a lot of customers ask for green products. Over the years I've carried some, such as Resource Revival, which is made out of old bicycle chains. But I wouldn't say the items we carry have flown out any faster than the ones that aren't green. I find them at regular tradeshows, plus The Buyer's Market of American Craft. In order for me to carry it, the product has to be functional and well-priced, and I have to like it. I'm not going to buy it just because it's green. In my opinion some of the green jewelry is extremely expensive. It may be good to buy it, but not if it's just going to sit there.
Jennifer Hill
Jennifer Hill
Blackstone's of Beacon Hill
Boston, MA
That has so many different levels. Green can be my shopping bags, my packaging material, how I wrap. Do I recycle? Do I use fluorescent light bulbs versus the old conventional? I am; we remodeled two years ago and switched all the light cylinders out for fluorescent. I am very conscious about the dyes in our shopping bags and we are switching over to an eco-friendly wrap. We use kraft boxes. But then it goes to: where are you sourcing your products, how far do they have to be transported? I know some stores brand their products as green: they're made out of recycled material. We focus more on where does the product come from, because we are only 540 square feet so I don't really have the room to say these are eco-friendly products. I buy a lot of local items so their carbon footprint is smaller. I wish we as a store could do more to be green, but we do the best we can with the space we have.
Elizabeth Howard
Elizabeth Howard
The Cordial Cricket
Chester, VA
Our customers seem to define products as "green" by their functionality and sustainable use qualities. For example, our customers are particularly fond of Envirosax bags. They love the concept of being able to carry a stylish and functional reusable bag with them and use fewer grocery or plastic bags. They also like things like ReGreet, which is an ingenious way to reuse greeting cards. We have had a great response to SnackTAXIs, which are reusable cloth sandwich and snack size bags. Our staff all started using them for their kids' lunches and told everyone about how many less plastic bags we use per year. Our customers and their kids now love using SnackTAXIs too! We are seeing more brides save paper by choosing invitations with only one envelope and postcard response cards instead of the traditional card and envelope.
We would love your feedback!
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