While we are still in our ‘green issue’ month and ahead of the World Cup where it is estimated we will generate over 2 million tons in carbon emissions through air travel, infrastructure development and the hotel industries, perhaps the South African consumer’s priority-list should be revisited as we each consider the fact that our impact on the environment is only set to become worse.

A whole new market is starting to emerge in South Africa with the environmentally conscious consumer niche slowly starting to grow. Yet, to many, buying in a way that supports ‘green initiatives’ is just not very high up on their priority list - especially if consumers are expected to fork out more to keep the grass green and the icebergs afloat.

“Our country is only now becoming more environmentally conscious,” believes the marketing director of USABCO – the South African manufacturer of the Addis brand of houseware and cleaning products since 1914. “While the power to move the market still lies with the consumer, we believe that the responsibility to educate the consumer about ‘green’ products must come from within the manufacturing company itself,” suggests the director.

Addis is launching its first environmentally friendly household cleaning range of products using Microfiber technology. These cleaning products do not require detergents and use very little water. While this is the first range of products for the ‘green market’ from Addis, reducing the impact on the environment during the manufacturing stages has been a long standing philosophy within the company. “We recycle all our process scrap from our moulding plant and have measures in place to conserve water in our factory and administration areas.”

While Addis’ Microfiber products are considerably better for the environment in their day-to-day household use, they also work much better than conventional cleaning products – thanks to the Addis ‘dirt-attract’® technology. This provides customers with the option of buying a product that is better for the environment without sacrificing on performance.