GOING GREEN STARTS WITH YOU
A whole new market is starting to emerge in South Africa with the environmentally conscious consumer niche slowly starting to grow. Many manufacturers have realised that the grass is potentially greener on the other side and have started to focus on creating products that are environmentally friendly. 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.

Consumers are constantly bombarded with advertisements. The conspiracy theorist might suggest that advertising is a means of communication used by businesses to maintain control of the consumer. However, at the end of the day, the consumer is the one spending the money and buying the products. How then can we assume that our markets are business-controlled? Markets are consumer-driven and, while the influence of economic trends is in essence a two way street, consumers are holding all the chips in this game of poker.
 
“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,” says the director.  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.

It has been estimated that the 2010 FIFA world cup 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. Addis has been at the forefront of home cleaning solutions for years. Consumers should be investing in products that can now clean the greater environment – both through production and day-to-day usage.