Green Production

The color green is closely associated with environmen-talism—and therefore "green production," "green enterprise," "green business,"and similar tags signal activities related to environmental goals in a positive way.

Environmentalism arose in the 1960s as the younger, more politically active post-war embodiment of an earlier conservation movement that is still active today. The latter is associated with President Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919). Environmental interest reached its peak in the 1970s. The first major environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, came just before the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 (coinciding then and every year since with the older Arbor Day on which, once, people planted trees). The eight years between 1969 and 1976 saw passage of nine of the 18 fundamental environmental laws.

Since those days environmentalism is an undeniable public movement, ranging from political activism to a general sort of mild piety. Since 9/11, two analysts (Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus) have produced much discussion with an influential paper titled The Death of Environmentalism, but environmental polls, tracked by PollingReport.com (http://www.pollingre-port.com/enviro.htm), show that public support for environmental causes was very high in the mid-2000s whether measured by Gallup, Harris, or one of the major media polls. Regarding this topic, no real differences in public opinion are discernible between the 1980s and the 2000s. A great majority (around three quarters) are favorably inclined toward the environment; more than half participate in some form of environmental activity (like recycling); and around 30 percent are actively involved in the cause.

This is the general "environment" in which green enterprise operates. Green products and services have a substantial market and command a premium price. The movement now embraces much more than simply pollution-free manufacturing and also encompasses healthy foods (organically produced, if possible), opposition to all manners of artificial ingredients, alternative fuels and modes of transportation (e.g., solar power, bicycles), alternative methods of construction to save energy (e.g., earth-sheltered homes), holistic and alternative forms of medicine, "green investment" in the securities of environmentally sensitive corporations, and many other forms of day-to-day or recreational behaviors, some of which can be supplied by business.

CORPORATE RESPONSE

The corporate response to environmentalism has taken many forms. These range from simple exploitation of the phenomenon to a deeply committed entrepreneurship by those who share the values of the environmentalists and attempt to incorporate those values into the production process itself in every possible way.

Exploitation typically takes the form of offering a few higher-priced versions of a product line which will appeal to environmentalists or positioning traditional products in marketing to highlight and emphasize the environmental aspects of the product.

The middle-ground is occupied by companies that deliberately make and sell only products that are environmentally superior, have been produced by a non-polluting process, or are made of natural ingredients only. A Google search on the phrase "environmental products," for example, will produce more than 2 million hits; a Yahoo search around 900,000. The products offered cover a bewildering variety of literally anything and everything—including even surprisingly technical items such as automotive catalysts.

Finally there are corporations in which environmental values are central to corporate values and all operations are deliberately and consciously managed with those principles guiding all choices. Often these are major publicly-traded corporations. And investment funds sold to environmentally-aware investors will feature such stocks. Sellers of such portfolios like the term "sustainable" industry as an alternative to "environmentally friendly" or "green" industry.

ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTION

All manufacturing processes, of course, are regulated under federal and state laws that deal with air and water pollution; the transportation and final management of toxic, hazardous, radioactive, and infectious wastes; land management and restoration in the mining of resources or the extraction of timber; the raising of animals and the management of their wastes; etc. "Green production," however, represents an effort to go the extra mile, not merely to meet all relevant environmental laws. This type of production involves, principally, four strategies: 1) methods of growing, harvesting, or extracting new raw materials in such a manner that energy is conserved and few or no artificial chemicals are introduced into the process; 2) methods of reusing materials to minimize waste and, indirectly, to save energy; 3) techniques for avoiding where possible high-energy or chemicals-intensive processes; and 4) schemes for processing production wastes back into the process or into secondary uses.

Extraction

The first strategy typically involves growing agricultural commodities with minimal or no artificial fertilizers, utilizing natural method of pest and weed control, and labor-intensive rather than machine-intensive methods of harvesting—including selective timber cutting rather than clear cutting. People engaged in green production understand that substantial amounts of energy are consumed in making fertilizers and pest/weed-control chemicals—and both the extraction and use of energy harms the environment. Chemical methods of control disturb the natural ecosystem and have far-reaching down-stream consequences as run-off carries residues into waterways and the tissues of aquatic life absorb and cumulate poisons. Modern agriculture and forestry, of course, has been optimized using energy and chemicals. Therefore "green production" tends to be more costly on average.

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