To help marketers establish industry-wide green practice standards, the Hacker Group recently launched a Green Marketing Coalition. Spyro Kourtis, president/CEO of Hacker Group, answered some questions about the coalition via e-mail:

Target Green: How were the standards of the standards for the Green Marketing Coalition determined?

Spyro Kourtis: We spoke with marketers from around the country to find out what they knew about green marketing and what they needed to get started. We found that there were no industry-wide standards, so we approached the coalition by starting with helping them establish benchmarks. Once we assessed the benchmarks we were able to develop recommended guidelines that will help marketers establish their own green marketing practices.

TG: What are the organization’s main goals?

Kourtis: The GMC’s main goals are to help marketers establish their own green marketing practices. By demystifying how companies can incorporate green marketing into their own businesses we can all decrease our carbon footprint. It doesn’t have to be all-consuming. Green marketing can be phased in. What’s more, we don’t expect to be perfect ourselves. This is a work in progress. As new ideas come along, we’ll incorporate them into our practices – as long as it makes business sense. The only way to be perfectly green is to do nothing at all, and that’s not possible. Marketers will continue to market products, but they can do it much more responsibly.

TG: What companies are involved in the Green Marketing Coalition?

Kourtis: The GMC comprises representatives from Microsoft, Washington Mutual, Kawasaki, MSP, Nahan Printing, Inc, Data-Mail, American Recycling, KP Corporation, OptimaHealth, BECU, and FastSigns.

TG: How will the coalition combat greenwashing? And how will it help consumers navigate through the green noise in the marketplace now?

Kourtis: The issue of greenwashing really is one of the main reasons we wanted to establish the coalition. Companies that offer green solutions to consumers, but don’t follow through in all aspects of their business are easily (and, perhaps, accurately) accused of greenwashing. In our case, for example, the coalition helps extend Hacker Group’s green reach to its clients.

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Weber Shandwick’s offices in the United States recently received the ISO 14001 certification, an international benchmark for green business practices. Target Green spoke with Andy Polansky, president of Weber Shandwick, about what the certification could mean for the PR industry and for Weber’s own business practices.

Target Green: What prompted Weber to become ISO certified? And why did Weber opt to do this now?

Andy Polansky: The environment is something that is important to our people and it’s important to our clients as well. PR agencies are more and more being asked to promote client initiatives in the areas of sustainability and clean technology. So we believed strongly that as a starting point it was good to have environmental policies within our own business so that we can credibly represent our clients in those arenas. And also looking at employee surveys over the last couple years, a focus on good green practices is something that has become increasingly important to all of our [employees].

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It’s not just greenwashing that is exasperating green consumers. Yesterday’s New York Times the issue of green noise, which it defines as “static caused by urgent, sometimes vexing or even contradictory information played at too high a volume for too long.” The confusing and conflicting messages around buying green have left consumers grappling with dizzying questions like, “Are organic salads shipped from across the country better than lettuce salads from a local industrial farm?,” the Times reports.

Sure, the green industry has some contradictions embedded into its operations and it’s not easy to quantify which eco-choices are better than others. But is there a PR opportunity amid all this confusion? Would like to hear your thoughts.

Best Buy launched a test program that lets consumers recycle their unwanted TVs, computers, and other electronics so the gadgets don’t end up in landfills, the Associated Press. The program comes as retailers are facing increased pressure to offer recycling programs, and Best Buy’s is considered the most extensive free program offered by a major retailer. “We want to take the time to learn if we can handle this before we go any further,” Best Buy spokeswoman Kelly Groehler told the AP. “We know the need is there and the waste stream is there. We think everyone needs to bear some responsibility for this — consumers, retailers, and manufacturers.”

Also:

The Environment Report says most shampoos and cosmetics contain a chemical that might cause cancer.

Electronic books (like the Kindle) show strong sales, reports TreeHugger.