Green Persona vs Reality

Abstract

The perception of being "Green" has become an awarded and coveted marketing title used to detail brands and operational concerns that improve the manufacturer's environmental impact and consumer awareness. Detailing ecological responsibility has been a marketing tool to show the consumer how industrialized entities understand the public's growing concerns for production safety and policy development regarding ecological sustainability. Although green declarations create an impression of environmental responsibility, is the Green Persona, presented through marketing to consumers and communities, genuinely aligned with a Green Reality, based on regulated and reviewed assessments of a product, service, or need meets environmental certifications meant to ensure consumer and community safety? Current Green Standards The current oversight of environmental claims for United States entities is by the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides (Green Guides, 2012).  FTC Green Guides, gradually developed between 1988-1992, were updated in 2012 and are currently under review for public comments (Green Guides, 2023). require entities with green marketing claims to assure the public that all green claims are valid. The FTC Green Guide statement advises marketers to have "competent and reliable scientific evidence" to substantiate environmental marketing claims adequately. At this write-up, the FTC is undergoing a 2023 review of its current green guides based on Federal Register comments for the current method for using Environmental Marketing Claims (FTC, 2023). The agency is reconsidering rulemaking that expands to implement substantial civil penalties for violations that do not meet the new FTC sustainability and green claims under review.  Between 1969-1978 Federal agency's Environmental Impact Standards were developed and regulated by the President of the United State's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements (E. P. A.,2022). What is the National Environmental Policy Act? EPA. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from https://www.epa.gov/nepa/what-national-environmental-policy-act). NEPA promotes the enhancement of the environment and is currently followed by 20 states that provide assessments with federal entities to ensure all projects meet Environmental Impact requirements through a series of evaluations. NEPA recently began the early stages of changes to a 40-year policy that allows the US to revisit advanced federal environmental impact needs. While The NEPA changes show the US is genuinely interested in improving EIS requirements at national and federal levels, until the development of the Green Guides, there had yet to be any solid requirements for nongovernmental or private entities to adhere to the same environmental standards. Outside of the FTC's Green Guides, concerns about public policy changes for private corporations always trigger political pushback and the emergence of personal responsibility for general public ecological needs. This has created a more vocal awareness of environmental justice and growing resource needs heavily on the environment. COVID-19 played a substantial interest in consumer environmental awareness and has now created a new debate on how the future of Environmental Impact assessment should be handled(Kachaner, Rodzko, et al., 2020). The first concern of this debate starts with marketing the perception of what is genuinely considered applicable changes versus claims of sustainability awareness without action.  Based on the review of Green Guides and consumer expectations, the evaluation review of community needs and policy requirements places the consumer and the product or service provider in two categories, the Green Persona or the Green Reality.  When determining how these two categorizations are determined, a review of Community assessment, EI Standard and Assessment, and Marketing are the three factors that help determine what green product service or need meets the appearance of awareness or the reality of application.   Green Persona The Green Persona is a common marketing goal for green claims, intending to provide plans for green community needs and potential consumers of green products that contribute to community sustainability and safety. Perception of community awareness is presumed to meet community standards through green services, outreach, and Local and State Policy. For products, services, or community needs, the question involves the value of how the community receives plans and best practices for explaining goals through printed, online, and in-person marketing. Marketing also plays a valuable role through educational activities that detail the aspirational stake of community benefits of green and sustainable plans. The Green Persona is the marketing of perception that may not always align with actual results or feasible solutions. The most troubling issue of a Green Persona is the conflicting agreements over entities marked as sustainable, even to the extent of winning green awards despite failing to meet common environmental standards and health claims. Companies that market as green despite resulting in environmental violations are also known as Greenwashing (Edwards, 2023).   Green Reality Meets Green Guide, Environmental Impact Standards & Assessment Requirements  Revised Green Guides, EIS, and EIA reviews must be discussed with local and state stakeholders to ensure the safety and sustainability of green-presented plans and policies to meet community standards.  Communities receive accessible marketing and discussions on how these policies are perceived to encourage policy support. The Sustainable Desk's Environmental Series will provide ongoing research, reviewing 2023 changes to FTC Green Guides, evolving green marketing vs. real consumer concerns to see if the Green Persona truly holds to new Green Guide standards for companies and if EI policies can maintain fair, ethical boundaries that ensure environmental standards without the need for aggressive government oversight.