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These answers indicate the real complexity of the issue.
“This is a very complex and unclear issue. There are different levels of green. Obviously there are the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Going green involves the product line and business practices—the company’s power source and use, waste products, consumables used in business, emissions, and employee travel, for example.”
“I would see a green product as multi-level. You can create a productusing recycled goods, provide one that can be recycled, or one that could potentially biodegrade….If you provide a product that can be recycled, then what? Do you create a network of places [to recycle] for your customers? Does the travel cost (emissions, fuel, etc,) negate the benefit or make it even worse?”
“It must be a continuous journey. One can’t just say these are our green products and be done, because you have to ask, “does that really benefit, or is it just a position for image?”
“Providing a green product, even if it is reusing a resource, may cost more because of the extra steps involved in the recycling process.”
“A company cannot just say they are now green. A first step is to say, “this is the carbon footprint our company is leaving today. Now what can we do to reduce the impact of that footprint?”
“An example of green is up-cycling, which is recycling waste materials for use in higher value products. For example, soda bottles are refined,purified, and chopped down into fiber, which is then woven into fabric.”
—Members of the Fabric Graphics Association Board of Directors