'Smells better when wrapped in green

A recent study shows that while most Americans identify with the word sustainability, only half can define it. Good enough.

In The Hartman Group’s Sustainability Outlook: The Rise of Consumer Responsibility, the Bellevue, WA-based firm found that the ability to have some kind of afterlife is the packaging feature that matters to them most--recycling, that is. 75% ranked the ability to return a product’s vessel to the consumer marketplace via curbside bins as either “very important” or “important.” The feature that ranked next in packaging preference was biodegradability, 71%. Oddly, both these choices outranked minimal packaging, 62%, which one would think would require less recycling and biodegrading. That makes sense: the mantra of the 3 R's is working. First and foremost, reduce above all else.

The study proves that consumers want to be greener even if they don't know how or what it even means. At the risk of revenue loss or decrease earnings per share, brands will have to be more innovative with their packaging. Whatever motivates a brand towards verdancy, even monetarily, is a step in the right direction. Even Wal-Mart's lofty sustainability goals are endearing.

Wal-Mart’s environmental goals are simple and straightforward: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our natural resources and the environment.

To their credit, Wal-Mart's 15-truck fleet has been retooled to run on used cooking grease, from oil left over from frying chicken in Wal-Mart delicatessens is a great concept. It lands on many parts of the circle of life in consumerism. The truck is fueled by grease from leftover grease that came fattened customers that paid for the overhead on the truck and fryer.