Happy Earth Day!

Surprisingly a few years ago, Earth Day was only celebrated by a select few environmentalists and a handful of remaining hippies. Today, with increased knowledge about the damaging effects of plastics, chemicals and the like, the world is paying far more attention to Earth Day. Retailers are also jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon, by providing special offers, products and a host of other do-gooder deeds in honor of this important day.

For example, Banana Republic is donating 1 percent of all in-store and online sales (up to $100,000) to The Trust for Public Land in order to support the preservation of urban spaces. In addition, customers can get their hands dirty, literally, by volunteering along side employees in New York and San Francisco to rebuild parks and urban spaces.

I love this! Getting shoppers involved is such an amazing way to change the world (and it doesn't hurt brand loyalty too much either). It almost makes me want to spend $135 on a plain dress at the Banana.

But, there's more where that came from...

Wayne, N.J. based Toys "R" Us introduced an eco-friendly toy line for Earth Day, and Union, N.J.-based Bed, Bath & Beyond is pumping up the marketing for its reusable bags, compost pails and more. Helsingborg, Sweden-based IKEA just said "no" to plastic bags and Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods will do the same starting today. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer Inc. recently announced its partnership with The Nature Conservancy to encourage shoppers to purchase non-invasive plants, trees and shrubs. The company is holding an Earth Day open house at 181 stores throughout the Midwest on April 26, 2008, to educate consumers.

In general, retailers are doing more than simply paying a superficial homage to Earth Day; they're actually putting their money where their mouth is. I don't know about you, but it feels good to be part of a community that's truly helping our Earth.

You go retailers!

Do you know of retailers going to spectacular lengths for Earth Day? Leave a comment here with the details.

--Heather Strang

Comments

[Jessica]

I agree, it is great to see retailers putting their "money where their mouth is" when it comes to Green initiatives! We here at the Gift & Hhome channel have noticed that most retailers are focusing first on their shopping bags and lighting/building fixtures when starting to go green. Through our blogs and message boards you can see that many smaller independent reatailers are finding and sharing other ways they can walk the walk with their customers!

Our GREEN Team consistently writes on ways to go green with your store - http://www.giftandhomechannel.com/blog/user/GHCGreenTeam/

[Jim]

Sungevity just launched (today) their new website that takes a lot of the leg work out of installing solar panels in your home. Give them your address and their satellite-imaging software will look at your home and guesstimate what size and where to install your panels. (limited to California for now)
http://gizmodo.com/381804/sungevity-web-app-makes-installing-solar-panels-a-piece-of-cake