Sustainable WNC

Hello - All: How can you translate these ideas into personal actions?

(From ‘Environmental Leader’)
November 16, 2007

Experts and research companies are predicting that green holiday shopping will be hot this year.

PriceGrabber.com says that 71 percent of those responding to its recent holiday survey say it is important to them to purchase eco-friendly products this holiday season, says Ron LaPierre, president of the Los Angeles-based company, MediaPost reports.

“Even though green gifts and green products are hot right now, the flame of consumer interest burns out very quickly,” says Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist and managing director of Context-Based Research Group in Baltimore. “Right now, with all the interest in global warming, there’s a lot of energy. Smart marketers need to be not righteous, but ‘lefteous’,” he says, “and recognize that consumers want to be taken to the next level.”For retailers, he says, that means having a whole portfolio of green products, not just one or two.

Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) will try to buy fewer gifts or holiday products this season because they are concerned about the effect their consumption may have on the environment, according to research from Cone.

The environment is also impacting the purchases Americans plan to make. Almost six in ten (59 percent) say they are more likely to buy “green” products this year than in the past. Interestingly, more than half of Americans surveyed (52 percent) say the motivation for green shopping is to alleviate the guilt associated with holiday consumption.

More than half of Americans (54 percent) say they would be willing to pay more for a holiday gift or product if it is environmentally responsible, and an equally motivated number (55 percent) say they proactively seek opportunities to buy green gifts and products around the holidays.

Americans’ environmentally sensitive behavior extends beyond gifts, as well. They are purchasing gift wrap made from recycled paper (42 percent) or decorating with energy efficient holiday lighting (32 percent). Other consumer choices include:

• Products made by companies that are environmentally responsible – 29%
• Shopping with retailers that have environmentally responsible practices – 27%
• Energy-efficient gifts – 27%
• Gifts with recycled content – 26%
• Organic/locally produced food for holiday meals or gifts – 23%
• Apparel made with environmentally responsible materials – 20%
• Making a donation to an environmental cause as a gift in someone’s name – 15%
• Purchasing carbon credits to offset holiday travel and/or shopping – 3%

First Solar Dazzles Wall Street
Source: GreenBiz.com

PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2007 — First Solar shares sold for $20 during its initial public offering a year ago.

The same shares soared past the $200 mark Thursday following this week’s earnings report showing quarterly sales increased nearly 300 percent over the same period last year.

First Solar and other solar companies enjoyed a brisk day on Wall Street Thursday at a time when the dollar is getting battered and the Federal Reserve chief is warning that the economy is poised for a slowdown.

First Solar shares finished at $224.43 Thursday, a 34 percent increase over the day before. Evergreen Solar rose 17 percent to close Thursday at $15.99 while Sunpower rose sharply before falling 2 percent to $141.93.

First Solar drew a standing-only crowd Thursday in San Francisco during the Pacific Growth Equities clean tech conference, according to Dow Jones. The news wire service reported that First Solar CFO Jens Meyerhoff described the company’s plan to mass-produce solar energy cells that are competitive with residential electricity rates without subsidies within the next five years.

Company sales are focused on France, Germany and Spain; it has yet to penetrate the U.S. market. The estate of John Walton, from the founding family of Wal-Mart, owns a controlling stake in the company.