Community Corner
When Going Green, Design Trumps Ideals
Tom Larson, CEO of GreenSmart, addressed the monthly EcoTuesday meeting.
Tom Larson, the CEO of recycled-bag company GreenSmart, does not want his products stacked in a special section for environmental products at stores.
He tried it once at a major warehouse, and sales dipped.
“The consumer does not make their purchasing decision on whether or not the product is green,” said Larson to about fifteen people at Palo Alto’s monthly EcoTuesday meeting. For example, he said, those seeking a new backpack will just make a beeline to the backpack section of a store -- not one for green products.
The event’s keynote speaker, Larson discussed how consumer choice -- conscious or not -- slowly allows more eco-companies to keep their cost down and compete with those using more conventional materials such as polyester, neoprene and nylon. He used those very materials until 2006, when he changed the name of his company from Shoreline.
Since then, Larson has made laptop bags and backpacks from recycled PET plastic bottles -- they boast a number tag on the side that reveals how many were used. The so-called “Neogreene” fabric contains no toxics, harmful chemicals or odor.
A trained conservation biologist, he is a firm believer that revolutionary action comes from “one person making better decisions every day.”
Yet his green products are not geared towards fervent environmentalists -- except for maybe in the Bay Area, he joked -- but rather anyone looking for a well-made, reasonably priced laptop bag. For example, his backpacks, which have been sold everywhere from the Googleplex to Best Buy, sell for around $60.
“We have to meet or exceed expectations at the product level,” said Larson. “If there are more manufacturers like GreenSmart doing this, then people will have more choices.”
EcoTuesday meets the fourth Tuesday of every month in eight cities across the country. Larson’s speech seemed to resonate with audience members, who forewent the State of the Union to hear Larson speak.
“There’s a subset of consumers that do care about how environmental a product is,” said Sonja Hetrick, a member of the Palo Alto co-op Greenway, “but most just look at the price tag.”
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