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  • From: KNat <knat@sprintmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Looking for products
  • Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:36:18 -0600

Greg wrote:
Hi all,

In launching our new website 30daystosustainability we are interested in marketing products that emulate to mainstream America just what it means to be sustainable. So to that end do you or anyone that you know have products that speak sustainability?

As a caveat - any products that we sell need to be uniform and readily available.
Thanks for raising this to discussion. I have been running into this frequently. The question, "What products can mainstream people purchase to develop a sustainable lifestyle?" certainly demonstrates the double edge sword of our goals. It would be nice to funnel money into "worthy" endeavors. But to set up cradle to grave product streams takes a leap on the consumers part that they will be happy with an old version of whatever they buy so it is okay to spend a bit more. And businesses have to go back to being geared up for continuing existence on repair parts after their initial sales. Very different from todays strategies.
ex. One laundry ball set can eliminate a sector of laundry soap users but then those people have a set and are not a market again for 7-10 years. People watching soap commercials are trained to want brighter and fluffier clothes so can be resold many times. If they lose that vulnerability they are no longer "mainstream."
Many of the new products hawked on treehugger or eco seem to instead sell a "clean" look to continued consumerism.

Kathyann, who's in the midst of a discussion with some kids on how to balance "compostable" dinner plates and cornstarch tableware in a pile.




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