What is Sustainability? …and Who Cares?
A realistic look at the green building industry & the audiences who are listening more than you think.
Sustainability.
That’s a big word. Lots of syllables. But what does it mean?
Are we talking about getting local neighborhoods to recycle? Or teaching consumers to use aluminum-free deodorant? Biodegradable sheetrock? Buy from responsible manufacturers? How about challenging people to ditch their plastic water bottles for a reusable solution? Or cleaning the plastic out of the ocean?
Yes, yes, and yes.
Everything from eating foods grown without pesticides, to manufacturers lowering their fossil fuel use – that IS sustainability. Anything that allows us to create a more promising tomorrow for our bodies, our children, and our planet.
Sustainability is a broad umbrella, but let’s do our best to define it:
Okay, so who cares?
For a long time, sustainable manufacturers kept quiet about their environmentally friendly materials and processes, for fear that they’d be dismissed as an overly expensive seller or a political icon. But over the last decade, a collective sense of environmental responsibility has swept the globe and given manufacturers the freedom to advocate for sustainable efforts in manufacturing.
And as a result, an entire new environmental industry has formed, with responsible consumers as its audience. These consumers live with sustainable mindsets, display thoughtful purchasing patterns, and get hooked on brands that share their values.
So, who are these customers who care about green building?
Consumers are becoming very aware that their opinions dictate the corporate responsibility of their favorite brands. These audiences are free to share information at any time, with any audience – and both positive and negative feedback about business spreads like wildfire through social media. As consumers pay close attention to the behind-the-scenes choices of their favorite brands, your audiences have more power than ever before – and they care about sustainability.
