frustrated by the large volumes of plastic filling up their trashcans. For example, of all the plastic bottles purchased by households each year only about 20 percent are recycled. What worries consumers is not just the fact that the plastic is bulky, awkward, and fills up their bins all too quickly. Landfills cause a great amount of damage to the environment, not least due to the fact that it lingers around for hundreds of years. In addition, there is a direct risk to health when plastic vessels are used in consumption. The health risk is made even worse by chemicals that leach out the plastic in landfill sites and into our water systems.
Consumers are setting the pace for the green agenda by sending clear messages to manufacturers through the choices they make in their shopping. The conscientious consumer is now only too keen to use their credit card as a voting tool. They are increasingly using their purchasing power to reward ethical, social and environmentally-aware companies. A good example is the way green water bottles are replacing the traditional plastic based disposable bottle. Such customers will vote with their feet, their cash and their credit cards in favor of business ideas that support the planet. Ethical shopping such as this now accounts for business worth billions of dollars every year.
Gone are the days when big business set the shopping agenda for the average household. Business enterprises are waking up to the fact that, with climate change and environmental awareness rapidly rising up the political and public agenda, green issues can no longer continue to be ignored.
Companies cannot afford to overlook their carbon footprints, or to ignore their responsibilities for conducting business on the basis of ethical, green principles. Those that do so are fast realizing that their customers will quickly gain access to information about their activities in a way that was simply not available decades ago. Retailers and suppliers are keen to attract a new breed of ethical shopper.
Manufacturers who can demonstrate that they have a listening ear to the concerns of their customers can make a virtue out of this necessity and will be rewarded with trusting customers who believe in the ethical principles designed into their products. Drinking bottles are a good illustration of this. Rather than continuing to irritate consumers with increasing numbers of disposable plastic bottles, green water bottles, which are designed to meet consumer demand for safe and reusable water bottles, are a pleasing solution to an ugly problem.
The current trend of conscientious consumers setting the standards which businesses have to respond to is set to continue. Green water bottles will continue to enjoy increasing demand as the security of oil production looks ever more shaky and plastic becomes ever more unfashionable.
