The green label challenge

[Dave A]

I got a request from Andy:

I was hoping you might consider starting a dedicated energy saving / resource management / greening-up kinda forum.

I think it's an excellent suggestion and I'm all for it. The loadshedding forum was a great success while Eskom was having their "wet coal" problem, and Andy has already shown us his passion and ingenuity which would give the forum a great kick start I'm sure.

Here's the challenge though, what label should we use?

Up until recently I considered the term "green" as heading up a vast array of terms such as "sustainable development, environmentally friendly, eco-sensitive, conservation, energy efficient" and the like. It was something of a rude awakening to arrive at a conference in Barcelona with "green pest management" as a major item on the agenda and discover that there are serious problems with the "green" label.

The two main ones is that "green" has come to be associated with

• a political movement with an ethos most modern urbanites regard as impractical, or
• expensive products and services of inferior quality and with inferior results - even failure.

In many parts of the world "green" comes with some pretty negative baggage.

So I'm a fan of what Andy is proposing, but not a fan of applying the "green" label - and I'm at a loss for a suitable label that is going to imply the practical and successful innovations and discussions I'd hope to see in such an area.

Any suggestions or comments? *Help smiley goes here just as soon as I find one*