Packaging Makes Environmental Benefits Clear

An estimated 40 million “green boomers” in the United States are using their purchasing power to buy environmentally safe brands, according to a study from AARP Services (www.aarp.org) and Focalyst (www.focalyst.com).

That tidbit is certainly not lost on brand marketers, who are increasingly using packaging as a vehicle to assure green-minded shoppers their products are earth-friendly. We most recently reported on this topic in our October 2007 issue (archives at www.brandpackaging.com).

Generations of families that recognize Windex glass cleaner for its distinctive blue color may be surprised to learn that the product is actually “green”.

Brand owner SC Johnson has changed the logo on Windex products to let consumers know about its Greenlist™ process, used to continuously improve the ingredients in the popular glass cleaner—and other products—to improve their environmental profile. The logo will help families quickly recognize that SC Johnson products are made with a commitment to a more positive health and environmental profile.

“The Greenlist process is about making good products even better,” says Kelly Semrau, vice president of global public affairs and communication for SC Johnson. “So when a consumer picks up that blue bottle of Windex glass cleaner, or any one of our innovative products, they know the company that made it cares as much about the well-being of the environment as they do.”

Since devising the Greenlist process in 2001, SC Johnson has enacted product reformulations that have reportedly removed more than 61 million pounds of VOCs from the company’s environmental footprint—the equivalent produced by approximately 656,000 cars in one year.