Valerie Davis, president of Green Canary Sustainability Consulting. wrote a funny article at Environmental Leader titled Are Consumers Falling Off The Green Wagon, And Should We Care? that examines what we, as green business leaders should do about it.

While it appears that the green movement has finally reached a tipping point, the inevitable over-exposure is not far behind.

Read more of this story »

But are Americans experiencing "green fatigue"? The ratings for Live Earth, which was billed as a must-see event, were dismal. The American broadcast drew just 2.7 million viewers, making it the least-watched U.S. program on Saturday night. Despite its undeniable entrenchment in pop culture and media, some experts say that the current incarnation of the green movement is just another "We Are the World" moment that consumers and businesses won’t be able to sustain over the long term.

Of course, this perspective is coming from a media outlet (ABC News) for whom the number of viewers are the most significant measure of importance. But that may not be a reliable indicator of how influential the green movement is. There is a wide gulf between public enthusiasm for a green-oriented rally like Live Earth, and public participation in actual green practice in their daily lives. Small steps, in many cases, but a lot of people have started taking at least a few steps to green their lives.

My perspective lies with the building and construction industry. I see increasing numbers of ads and new product announcements from hundreds of manufacturers. I can’t begin to count the number of trade magazine editorials I’ve seen that begin along the lines of this one: "These days, it seems everyone is jumping on the "green" bandwagon — including many companies in [your industry here]." Green awareness has permeated the building industry from top to bottom. And, while not every new building is a new model of sustainability, green building practice is here to stay.

While media fads can quickly come and go, gearing up a manufacturing company’s production to make a new product that meets greener specifications takes time, money and effort. Suppliers and producers of these materials wouldn’t be making these products and attempting to compete on their merits unless they believed there was a market for them. And, even if it is a fad in the wider community, the products are in these manufacturers’ catalogs, and will be available for years to come. Availability of suitable products was the biggest hurdle for green builders a few years ago. People wanted to have green products, and in many cases they just weren’t available. That has certainly turned around now.

Beyond the issue of fad or non-fad lies a greater truth. Green buildings save money. An energy efficient building may cost a little more to construct, but over time, the cost of operation (and the total cost of ownership) will be lower. Building owners, developers, architects and engineers will continue to use green products because they make for better buildings.

It is difficult to sustain the same high level of energy for a movement after it has won. When I was young, I remember protests and concerns about the use of DDT and the effect it was having, particularly on eagles and falcons. There isn’t that much public attention given to pesticides these days. In large part that is because pesticide regulation has been adopted into laws and regulations. The bald eagle has even recently come off the endangered species list, but it has taken more than a human generation (and many eagle generations) to reach this point.

In the same way, people who advocate for green building today may be like people who clamored for sanitary practices in food handling a century ago. We no longer have a social movement dedicated to cleanliness in meat packing because it has moved from being revolutionary to being policy. The idea of a building that doesn’t have adequate insulation and efficient appliances will seem as unenlightened and outdated as the life portrayed in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle seems to us today.

See also: "Overwhelmed By Green Fatigue" on Green Options earlier this year.

If you passed by any newsstand in April magazines from Elle to Sports Illustrated had green issues giving quick tips and tricks on how we could play our part. TV got in on “doing good” in May with the amazing Planet Earth, Sundance Channel’s The Green and even American Idol’s own charity-themed show. Just as our heartstrings and conscious seem to have been pulled enough, companies are declaring their greenness in droves.

Where does this leave ordinary people whom just want to go about their lives, avoid cancer and feel like responsible citizens? It should leave us hyper aware and charged up to change the world. For some “conscious consumers”, it does. For the rest of us, it might make us replace a few light bulbs and recycle more frequently, but it will ultimately leave us overwhelmed by green clutter and ready to give up.

If you are part of this group, you probably are enduring “Green Fatigue”. The whole idea of green fatigue comes from the world of consumer electronics. As James Surowiecki points out in next week’s New Yorker, when we buy cell phones, cameras or even toasters these days, we are often seduced by choice and information but in practice prefer simplicity:

When the subjects were given the chance to customize their product, choosing from twenty-five features, they behaved like kids in a candy store. (Twenty features was the average.) But, when they were asked to use the digital device, so-called “feature fatigue” set in. They became frustrated with the plethora of options they had created, and ended up happier with a simpler product.

With all the buzz around going green, it seems like a million options exist whether its organic cotton or hemp clothes, local organic foods, energy efficient light bulbs or hybrid vehicles. Frankly we can’t necessarily afford to take all of them now. Even if we did, we wouldn’t necessarily have the carbon footprint of an eco acetic.

So what’s the answer? Whether it’s technology or greening our lives, we feel overwhelmed when we stop asking why and start accepting everything we’ve been told. However, simplicity requires being able to decipher what’s worth hearing. It requires looking to the plethora of green products and services and asking why. Why is one option necessary or better than another? Why is the process for consuming something the way it is? Why doesn’t a service exist?

Now this might seem silly. But it takes five minutes to send a clever email, and the processes can be empowering. I’ve found in writing The Eightfold that asking questions can often reveal more about a company than I ever expected. For example, I recently emailed Apple regarding its environmental policy after a visit to the SOHO store. That day was particularly hot and the air conditioning was on with the doors open.

While I understand this is standard retail practice, it still seemed like a terrible waste of energy. I emailed the store manager and was told it wouldn’t happen again. Still he hadn’t told me why it happened in the first place. So, I emailed Apple’s corporate headquarters and followed up with two phone calls. It’s been a month, and I’ve not received a response.

My lesson? Apple may make environmental statements when Greenpeace twists its arm, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready or is able to explain them to consumers willing to ask why. If I ever was overwhelmed by green proclamations I now know how far Apple is willing to go to defend its position – not very.

The point here isn’t to attack Apple. It’s to demonstrate that we no longer have to accept green marketing at face value. Companies will not necessarily provide the perfect green solution, but good green companies should be willing if not enthusiastic and passionate to share their thoughts and hear your ideas. Once you start asking why, you will quickly be able to cut through the clutter to find your personal green pathway to a simply green clutter-free world.

New Yorker on Feature Creep

The Eightfold Apple Experience