Green Business Grows Up

The American supermarket has always offered a virtual cornucopia of goods, but never before has the selection been quite so eclectic, or so green. Scan the shelves today and find toothpaste that contains no saccharin, preservatives or dyes and comes in 100 percent recycled paperboard packaging; vegetable-based, biodegradable, chlorine-free laundry detergent; a colorful array of organic yogurts and ice cream that comes in unbleached paper pints. Flip through a catalog for flashlights and radios that generate their own electricity, or fleeces made from the soda bottles you may have recycled on your very own curb. Pick up the phone to call Grandma, and your long distance company automatically donates money to a worthy nonprofit.

Only 30 years ago, "green business" was a sleepy backwater, presided over by relatively moribund firms that catered to a small cult of "health fanatics." The products themselves were poorly marketed, expensive, and often ineffective in use. But the new generation of companies -- including Tom's of Maine, Seventh Generation, Stonyfield Farms, Ben & Jerry's, Real Goods, Patagonia and Working Assets -- was smarter than that. They aimed their products at mainstream consumers, and went head-to-head in quality with established supermarket brands. In time, they were able to compete in price as well, breaking down one of the last consumer resistance barriers. The result has been incredible growth of a category that barely existed 30 years ago. This is now a $7.9 billion industry, with a large and devoted consumer base.

The bewildering array of exhibitors that gather each year for the "Eco-Expos" on either coast are proof-positive of this retail phenomenon. The Expo-West, held in Anaheim, California this past March, boasted over 2,400 booths showcasing natural products from organic textiles to pet shampoos, and drew 30,000 attendees. "People come thinking it'll be a cottage industry," says Susan Benanati, vice president of marketing for New Hope Natural Media, which organizes the event. "And they get blown away."

The Novelty of It All

The sheer novelty of the new products has helped secure their place in the mainstream marketplace. Once there, the results have been impressive. Stonyfield Farms, the nation's fastest-growing yogurt company, is now number five in the country, according to Food Processing. But CEO Gary Hirshberg recalls a time when, fresh from milking the cows, he would literally kick the manure off his boots and walk into meetings with retailers. "We found our way onto the shelves with a combination of chutzpah and naivete," says Hirshberg, still somewhat amazed. "The reason we got there is that they saw we were offering something different, a little curious and even weird to them. They didn't buy into our politics or even care."

But the popularity of such "curious" products is sweeping the politics along, to the great good fortune of local communities and the environment. Stonyfield, for instance, awards grants to dairy farmers to promote sustainable agriculture, prints environmental messages on yogurt lids, and donates 10 percent of profits to efforts like organic farming associations and environmental radio. Stonyfield also began the daunting task of reducing its contribution to global warming, and is now offsetting 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 100 percent of its emissions, with reforestation projects.

Now a printed guide, Stonyfield's Carbon Cookbook is distributed to help other businesses make similar environmental choices. The White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the first restaurant in the Chefs Collaborative, a growing coalition that encourages restaurant owners to buy directly from local farmers, to use it to measure and offset its carbon emissions as well. The Cookbook is one more proactive tool for owner Judy Wicks, who already buys alternative power, ensuring that 44 percent of the cafe's electricity comes directly from windmills. Restaurants, she feels, are an especially effective business medium for reaching outside the choir of established activists to deliver an environmental message.