As more and more Americans try to downsize their spending and stretch their hard earned dollar there seems to be one expense that is recession proof. Green.
The movement to buy local, shop organic and be environment friendly has the all natural business seeing some green of their own, profits. The organic industry's sales are growing at a rate of three to eight times faster than its non-organic competitor. And it's not just food.
Organically grown and produced ingredients can also be found in clothes, toys, pet foods, cleaning and personal care products. According to a recent survey put out by the Organic Trade Association:
It's not just what people buy, but also how people shop.
More and more people are bringing their own reusable bags to the store. As awareness grows about the adverse effects of both plastic and paper grocery bags have on the environment it's become another way to shop "green".
Websites like ReusableBags.com have dedicated themselves the the advancement and education of the BYOB or Bring Your Own Bag initiative. Even mainstream outlets like Target and Jewel-Osco are catching up to more eco-centric competitors Whole Foods and Trader Joe's by selling reusable bags of their own.
But if your inner environmentalist still cries out to do more you can join the locavore movement.
The Chicago Locavore website defines a locavore as
food supply Bell wrote,
The movement to buy local, shop organic and be environment friendly has the all natural business seeing some green of their own, profits. The organic industry's sales are growing at a rate of three to eight times faster than its non-organic competitor. And it's not just food.
Organically grown and produced ingredients can also be found in clothes, toys, pet foods, cleaning and personal care products. According to a recent survey put out by the Organic Trade Association:
"Organic non-food sales grew 26 percent in 2006."The survey goes on to predict that the 2008 U.S. sales of organic food and beverages will be even stronger than previous years.
Estimates reach the $25 billion total U.S. organic sales for 2008 when the Organic Trade Association factors in both food and non-food products."Sales for 2008 are projected to grow by 18 percent from a $16.7 billion base in 2006, to an estimated $23.2 billion in 2008."
It's not just what people buy, but also how people shop.
More and more people are bringing their own reusable bags to the store. As awareness grows about the adverse effects of both plastic and paper grocery bags have on the environment it's become another way to shop "green".
Websites like ReusableBags.com have dedicated themselves the the advancement and education of the BYOB or Bring Your Own Bag initiative. Even mainstream outlets like Target and Jewel-Osco are catching up to more eco-centric competitors Whole Foods and Trader Joe's by selling reusable bags of their own.
But if your inner environmentalist still cries out to do more you can join the locavore movement.
The Chicago Locavore website defines a locavore as
"someone who makes every effort to get their food from sources close to where they live"Nina Interlandi Bell founded Chicago Locavores in January of 2007 as a Yahoo Group that had about 30 members. Bell said two months ago they switched to being a full fledged website with 100 members. When asked about her reaction to recent recalls and warnings in the nation's
food supply Bell wrote,
"It's a great feeling to know that you don't have to run to your freezer or refrigerator to check if the food you have bought has come from any recalled sources, and if you ever have any specific questions or concerns you can actually call and talk to the person who grew it for you. That's a lot easier than an 800 number."
Even in the shadow of a gloomy economy shoppers are making the economic choice to go Green.
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