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can appear somewhat paradoxical. Sustain-
ability is the keystone of the green marketing
philosophy, which resolves this apparent para-
dox. A sustainable approach to consumption
and production involves enjoying a material
standard of living today, which is not at the
expense of the standard of living of future
generations. It is a deceptively simple concept
comprising two parts:

1 Using natural resources at a rate at which
environmental systems or human activity can
replenish them (or in the case of
non-renewable resources, at a rate at which
renewable alternatives can be substituted in).

2 Producing pollution and waste at a rate which

can be absorbed by environmental systems

without impairing their viability.

Green marketing’s key concepts of sustainability

and holism are both apparently simple, but can

be extremely difficult to translate into action.

This is largely because conventional manage-

ment wisdom emphasizes reductionalism and

specialism, and is founded on economic theories

which mistakenly treat environmental resources

as limitless, free (beyond the cost of extraction)

or, for market-less commodities like strato-

spheric ozone, worthless. Green marketing

attempts to relocate marketing theory and

Table 28.1 The evolution of environmental concern

Factor 1970s environmentalism 1990s green

Emphasis On ‘environmental’ problems On the underlying problems with

our social, economic, technical or

legal systems

Geographic focus On local problems (e.g. pollution) On global issues (e.g. global

warming)

Identity Closely linked to other

anti-establishment causes

A separate movement embraced by

many elements of ‘the

establishment’

Source of support An intellectual elite, and those at

the fringes of society

A broad base

Basis of campaigns Used forecasts of exponential

growth to predict future

environmental problems (e.g. limits

to growth)

Uses evidence of current

environmental degradation (e.g. the

hole in the ozone layer)

Attitude to businesses Business is the problem. Generally

adversarial

Businesses seen as part of the

solution. More partnerships formed

Attitude to growth Desire for zero growth Desire for sustainable growth

View of environment/

business interaction

Focused on negative effects of

business activity on the

environment

Focuses on the dynamic

interrelationship between business,

society and the environment