StalkMarket is a leading provider of eco-friendly disposable tableware, flatware and food packaging. The company’s product line includes a wide array of plates, bowls, serving trays, to-go containers, sandwich boxes, utensils and cups made from sustainable, biodegradable plant materials. All StalkMarket products are compostable.

The majority of products are made of a sugarcane paperboard called bagasse. The raw materials we use to make bagasse are the upcycled byproduct of sugar refineries. Traditionally, this material was discarded by burning.

StlakMarket provides a vastly superior alternative to disposables made from plastic and polystyrene (Styrofoam) products. The overwhelming majority of the environmentally-conscious community embraces StalkMarket as a legitimately green company that provides an elegant solution to a daunting problem. We’ve even been endorsed by Sierra Magazine in 2005 for our efforts.

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There is a lot humankind can - and must - do to reduce its impact on the environment, but we cannot eliminate our impact entirely. The very act of breathing produces greenhouse gas. It is no more possible to come up with a 100% green product than it is to live a 100% green lifestyle. At the end of the day, it is all about compromise, sacrifice and trade-offs. This is a concept with which any successful ecopreneurist must come to terms.

Since there is no such thing as a completely green product, it stands to reason that some people may conclude that the environmental cost of any given innovation is not worth the environmental benefit. And, since the definition of greenwashing is subject to interpretation, occasionally a perfectly legitimate Earth friendly solution or product still runs the risk of being inaccurately branded as such.

Our last article covered a number of ways to help minimize the chance of this happening. However, green businesses need to take a pragmatic approach and realize that if they market their products as green, they are going to take some criticism from someone. It’s simply inevitable.

Learning to handle public criticism is important. Below are a few suggestions on how to turn criticism in to a branding opportunity:

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A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to create a venture designed to have a positive impact on society. Ecopreneurists are, simply, social entrepreneurs focused on the environment.  While a social entrepreneur’s business may be a for-profit enterprise, the driving force behind it is the desire to do something meaningful.

Generally speaking, social entrepreneurs are not involved with greenwashing (at least not blatantly or intentionally). However, being an ecopreneurist does not automatically give you immunity from scrutiny. The fact that so many companies have jumped onto the green bandwagon has created an environment of skepticism among potential customers that any company claiming to be green must overcome.

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The word “green” is one of the most used and abused words in today’s marketing lexicon. The green movement is gaining enough momentum to make it a very attractive demographic for legitimate social entrepreneurs as well as bottom-feeding shysters whose true interest in green pertains mainly to the color of money. The good news is that there is a growing number of environmentally-minded consumers who put a lot of time and effort in to making sure they aren’t being duped by unscrupulous companies that claim to be something they are not.

These consumers work hard to evangelize companies and products that they deem legitimate. The community works just as hard to call out companies who aren’t backing up their claims, and the term they use to describe the actions of these companies is “greenwashing.”

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