Green products, jobs growing

Consumers who may be blue over the deepening economic crisis remain loyal to purchasing green products as demand continues amid an emerging green jobs market.

A new study set for release on Friday at a first Greenwashing Forum at the University of Oregon, where green industry watchdogs from across the nation are gathered this week, found that four of five consumers continue to buy products that claim to be easy on Mother Earth. In a phone survey of 1,000 consumers, half said they purchased just as many green products as they did before the economy went into decline, while 19 percent say they are buying even more.

Green truth

Still, the study from the nonprofit, science-based research organization Green Seal and the Austin, Texas,-based, socially conscious marketing firm EnviroMedia found that about one in three consumers admit they don’t have enough education to tell whether green product claims are true. They say they rely on packaging and on brand recognition when making their purchases, with some going online for research to verify green claims.

“Advertising is not the silver bullet for green marketing,” said Valerie Davis, CEO and a principal at EnviroMedia. “But I do think it’s good news that there remains a great willingness among Americans to buy these products. Americans want to do better, and perhaps being green, as long as it’s easy and accessible and there is the infrastructure there to access it, Americans will do it. It’s almost as if it’s common sense and the innate desire for anyone to not be wasteful.”

Green jobs

As demand increases in the green economy, interest in related jobs continues to rise. The Green Jobs Expo was held Thursday at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in the District and featured more than 80 booths from vendors, including academic institutions, corporations and governmental agencies.

Environmental groups and nonprofit organizations sponsored the event, attended by many unemployed people hoping to discover job opportunities in one of this recession’s few growth industries.

D.C. resident Ella Haines went to the expo hoping to find a new employer after recently being laid off from her job at a Federal Emergency Management Agency’s library.

“The environment is something I’ve always been passionate about, which is why I’m here today,” she said. “It seems more people are here today to promote their economy ideas of going green, which frustrates me a little, because I just want them to take my resume.”

Hydrogen Energy International LLC, a joint venture of BP Alternative Energy and Rio Tinto, was one of the more popular booths. The Long Beach, Calif., alternative energy company is in the final stages of developing a hydrogen fuel facility and power plant in Kern County, Calif. Construction is expected to begin by 2010.

“If the California project were to come online in the near future, it would open up around 1,500 construction jobs and approximately 100 permanent operational jobs,” said Anthony Stewart, a Hydrogen Energy policy adviser.

Veterans Green Jobs provides green jobs education and career development opportunities for veterans.

“We’ve had a ton of positive feedback,” said Brett KenCairn, executive director of the group. “Veterans are a unique and valuable work force, as well as a leadership asset to our country.”

“Our program is designed to be a short-duration, high-intensity training that makes them immediately employable and then gives them the opportunity to branch out into green job fields.”

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