Part of being an effective environmental marketing agency is conducting ongoing, meaningful, primary research. Once a year TerraChoice surveys a wide sample of procurement professionals for an EcoMarkets report to determine the state of green purchasing and analyze year-over-year trends. The full EcoMarkets 2008 report is due out in June, but a few of the conclusions are available now. Here’s some of what TerraChoice found out in 2008:

• 31% of respondents indicated that at least 40% of spending is ‘green’ influenced
• 25% of organizations surveyed have formal green purchasing policies - up from 22% in 2007
• 72% of purchasers surveyed feel that ecolabels help purchasing decisions
• The single biggest factor that respondents said would facilitate more green purchasing is more training and education on how to buy eco-friendly products and services

This year’s EcoMarkets study surveyed 336 procurement professionals, with roughly half located in the US and half located in Canada. Stay tuned for the full report, which will appear on the Responsible Purchasing site. In the meantime, TerraChoice and the Responsible Purchasing Network hosted a webcast on May 28th with more of the study results discussed. A webcast video is available.

If you’re a procurement professional interested in participating in future studies, please contact the TerraChoice EcoLogo Procurement Think Tank at thinktank@ecologo.org.

The Greenwash Brigade hit the nail on the head recently with their commentary on a public radio interview with Seventh Generation’s Jeffrey Hollender. Namely: it’s extremely hard for consumers to uncover greenwashing on their own. If you’re knowledgeable on environmental issues, you can make reasonable guesses about when a marketing claim may be suspect. But trying to get specific environmental information about a product is exceedingly difficult.

First, there are so many things that go into whether a product should be considered environmentally friendly. How was it manufactured? How is it packaged? How was it transported? Is it recyclable?

Second, it’s difficult to find a credible source with information on a product’s environmental impact. Who is documenting this stuff? Are they trustworthy?

Interestingly, the topic fits well into a discussion TerraChoice’s Scot Case had with the Federal Trade Commission recently. The FTC is revamping its Environmental Marketing Claims Guidelines and is currently hearing testimony from experts as they deliberate. Scot was on a panel regarding the need for FTC guidance and made one critical recommendation. Since consumers are demanding proof of green claims, companies should be required to provide it – either with data and evidence on their websites or through third-party certification.

In others words, consumers shouldn’t be stuck with the burden of research. Companies should help make the information consumers need easily available.

Note: For your listening pleasure, there’s a recorded webcast from the FTC event mentioned above.

OfficeMax had some really cool news out last week. The green-savvy retailer has partnered with the award-winning, green start-up company TerraCycle. OfficeMax is launching the partnership with seven TerraCycle products including a line of EcoLogo-certified, TerraCycle Natural Cleaners. Besides being plant-based, non-toxic and biodegradable, these cleaners are packaged directly in used soda bottles! Talk about innovative recycling.

TerraCycle has a storied if still-short history in bringing eco-friendly products to market. The company, founded by 25-year-old Tom Szaky started out with worm poop plant food, making it big with distribution through WalMart and The Home Depot in 2005.

Meanwhile OfficeMax is one of several retailers on a quest to become one of the greenest big-box stores around. And as more and more retailers fight for top green honors, certifications from accredited ecolabelers like EcoLogo grow increasingly important for retail suppliers. TerraCycle certainly makes for tough supplier competition.