GLIMPSES OF GREEN CONSUMERISM AND STEPS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

The Green Consumerism has emerged world over and slowly changed the ways business used to be practiced. Studies indicate that after 1960s followed by few severe industrial accidents gave rise to Green Movement and at the same time opened vistas for research in green business. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was one of the pioneering work influenced green movement. Infact, that was the first time pesticides usage and its associated health hazards on human life were studied carefully. One of the landmark work was named “Limits to Growth Report” submitted to the Club of Rome. It projected a catastrophic future if growth continued at the same rate and therefore many groups called for “zero growth”. In same time period, IBM had become one of the first companies to establish a formal corporate Environmental Policy and the year 1974 witnessed the Control of Pollution act in the UK, followed by the publication in the UK of the “Green Consumer Guide” in 1988. Literature on Marketing reveals that the concept of green marketing got attention in the 1970s. During mid-1970s, some significant contributions were made on ecological perspectives of marketing. Several studies were also carried out on green marketing as a potent tool for sustainable development. It was realised that growth with sustainability is most prudent strategy for businesses. Today, organisations have started developing green products, green designs, green technology, environment management as a philosophy, green advertising and greener earth as a business philosophy.