I have had one question on my mind over the past few weeks… will the recession have a major affect on consumer desire for green products?

This question is especially pertinent as my eco-friendly party supplies business, Little Cherry is a relatively young business, trading in this sector. My concern really lies within the message that has been thrust on us recently about cutting back on our spending and choosing only products we ‘need’ rather than being frivolous with those we ‘want’. Having an eco-friendly party; is it something we ‘need’? Or ‘want’? Will saving the planet take a back seat as saving money becomes so important?

So as the housing market slows, and people have less access to equity, as more people are made redundant and therefore have less cash to play with, will they opt for less expensive non-green products, which have a detrimental effect on the environment?

Not so, according to findings from the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey*, spending on green products is set to almost double this year. In addition to these finding, the survey found that peoples perception of ‘green’ has shifted somewhat to now symbolise a positive refection of their social status, and equate it with saving money and caring for self, and society.

My thoughts are that I hope the finding come to fruition so I can stay in this nice comfy bubble; I hope people will equate being green as a way to save money in the long term and will realise the major benefits with choosing sustainable products over planet clogging ones. I hope they will make a statement by sticking to their morals rather than converting back to less expensive (in the short term) products, which are more damaging in the long term.

I also hope that in this tide of recession, people won’t be talking about the economy so much that they forget about the environment, because the reality is that if we don’t all make an effort both in the short and long term, nothing will change.

* Conducted by WPP’s Landor Associates, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Cohn & Wolfe

Ok, now I can take a breath and step down from my soap box!
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