Consumer tastes need to change further in order to make the business case for a green economy, but they are already evolving, says Roger Martin, dean of management at the University of Toronto. “I think the prosperity impact of environmental challenges will be absolutely dwarfed by the attitudinal changes, absolutely dwarfed,” Mr. Martin said yesterday.

“The U.S. auto industry is on the cusp of a dramatic change in which companies and customers make decisions with environmental impact in mind, a group of panelists agreed Wednesday in Detroit.”

The Canadian food distributor, Loblaw Companies Limited is looking to add carbon labels to its private label products. If this goes through, consumers will be able to see the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the products’ production.

“Going green was a key topic at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention that ended Wednesday in New York City. Not only did Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Best Buy and other retailers make presentations about their efforts, but for the first time the meeting’s huge exposition center held a “Green Pavilion” of vendors showing everything from gift cards made from recycled plastic to energy-saving cash registers.”

“Product stewardship is the process of evaluating the entire lifecycle of the products we buy and use.” Here are 8 practical ways you can follow: stay informed; spend some dough; locate your products; check the ingredients; reduce your packaging; recycle; take advantage of take backs; and close the loop.

According to a survey conducted by the Co-op grocery business, only 4% of UK consumers surveyed ranked climate change as their top ethical priority. At the top of the list for shoppers are animal welfare (21%) and fair trade (14%).

Procter & Gamble is aiming to invest $20 billion to develop “sustainable innovation” products as an effort to achieve its goal of reducing 40% of its carbon footprint by 2012 and to give consumers a greener choice.

A ban on the distribution of plastic bags by retailers will take effect at the end of the year in South Australia. However, Premier Mike Rann states that “such a ban – on 57 per cent of the state’s plastic bag stream – would be inefficient and more expensive than the litter problem it is designed to solve.”

Source: BusinessWeek

Shoppers will soon find carbon labels on products they purchase to help them understand the associated environmental impact. “But even if the public can interpret the information, will it help reduce greenhouse gas emissions?”

Wal-Marts’ launch of its new environmental campaign aims to position the company as an environmentally friendly brand. Wal-Mart will offer various environmentally friendly products including T-shirts made with recycled plastic bottles, certified organic coffee and more.