Green Tech

Classic brown cardboard will replace elaborate plastic packaging for some Amazon.com items.

(Credit: Amazon.com)

Sometimes the greenest technology improvement is going back to the old low-tech option.

Amazon.com announced Monday it's working with retailers to cut back on the packaging you'll need to open to get to your goods.

The Seattle-based company plans to start shipping items in plain brown cardboard boxes, instead of putting a pre-boxed or plastically sealed item inside another Amazon box. The cardboard box will have Amazon, and in some cases the retailer's name, on the front.

Memory cards, for example, are often sold in disproportionately large clear plastic packaging to prevent shoplifting at physical stores. Transcend's memory cards when bought via Amazon will be shipped in a recycled cardboard envelope. Children's toys, such as a Fisher-Price pirate ship set, will be shipped in a plain brown box with cardboard padding and a plastic bag holding the toy people and whatnot.

So, in addition to being less annoying to open, the new packaging will also be more environmentally friendly, according to Amazon.

U.S. consumers have the least "green" habits in the world in terms of energy use, transportation, travel, and goods, according to National Geographic and polling firm GlobeScan.

Blame the American appetite for large, two-car, gadget-packed homes located far from work, along with a general disregard for conservation and eco-friendly products, the report says.

The Greendex results, released Wednesday, are based on online surveys taken earlier this year examining the shopping habits and attitudes of 14,000 consumers in 14 countries.

The Greendex map paints developing nations a darker shade of green.

(Credit: National Geographic)

Among Americans' un-green daily habits, 59 percent said they drive alone, and a trifling 5 percent use public transportation. Seventy-eight percent eat beef weekly, and only 5 percent attempt to reduce the use of fresh water. U.S. shoppers were also far more likely than others to own multiple new TVs, PCs, and energy-hogging household appliances.

Canadian and French consumers didn't appear much to be better than those in the United States.

People in developing nations, by contrast, were more likely to live in smaller homes, use less polluting modes of transportation, repair rather than discard broken goods, and seek "green" products.

They were more likely to express worry that climate change will negatively affect their lifestyles. Only 12 percent of Americans said ecological woes are affecting their health.

GlobeScan rated Brazilian, Indian, and Chinese consumers as the most "green."

Nearly one-third of Brazilians reported buying "green" products regularly and 41 percent said they try to reduce their use of fresh water. Their overall score tied with that of Indians, whose low meat consumption and willingness to pay more for energy-conserving products helped to earn points.

The study also pitted national sustainability trends from the Economist Intelligence Unit, finding that the more new cars were purchased in a country, the lower its consumers ranked on eco-friendly transportation. Per capita wealth and increased consumption overall, both expected to increase as developing nations expand, were also tied together.

The Greendex Web site offers a quiz and calculator for users to measure their personal shade of green.

Click on this image for an image gallery of independent, green product labels.

(Credit: Jeremy Faludi)

With so many "green" options appearing on everyday products, navigating the marketplace can be tricky if you're attempting to green your life.

Home Depot stamps efficient lightbulbs, low-toxic paints, and other goods as "Eco Options." SC Johnson sells Windex certified by Greenlist, the company's internal effort to reduce toxicants in its product line. Canon labels printers as "Generation Green."

Environmentalists may applaud corporate efforts to sell fewer polluting and poisonous goods and services. But some consumer watchdogs warn that the proliferation of green claims will confuse or mislead shoppers, and prefer that companies agree on industry-wide standards.

This CNET guide to green labels covers popular, third-party markings on electronics and other products. Their logos represent pooled efforts by experts not on the payroll of companies selling the labeled products, such as scientists, nonprofit groups, designers, and government officials.

Click here to see all of News.com's Earth Day 2008 stories, photo galleries, and more.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is revising its guidelines (PDF) for green marketing claims (PDF), which haven't been updated for nearly a decade.

The Consumers Union directory of eco-labels describes in detail what's behind labeling on food, home cleaners, pesticides, wood, and other goods.

Baby boomers may have retired their love beads decades ago, but changing the world heavily motivates their buying decisions, according to a poll by AARP Services and Focalyst research.

Seventy percent of people born before 1964 told pollsters they felt a duty to improve the world. "Socially conscious" shopping goals drive 54 percent of older Americans in the survey, which identified 40 million consumers as "green boomers."

Conventional wisdom may have it that only "eco elites" regularly buy green products. However, the least wealthy people surveyed were more likely to buy products for reasons of ecology and social responsibility. Fifty-seven percent of those earning $50,000 or less indicated such motivations, compared with half of those making three times as much money.

Supporting companies that give back to their communities and buying from local retailers were among the aims of the majority of green boomers polled. Customer service, quality of goods, and truth in advertising were also top concerns among this group.

However, only 41 percent called it worthwhile to pay a premium for organic products. That could be because organic food may be less eco-friendly than advertised, with the impact of importing produce taken into account, according to the study.

The green shoppers are more likely to stick with a consumer brand they already use, especially when it comes to soft drinks, laundry detergent and pet food. They expressed the least brand loyalty when buying computers and televisions.

The survey separated respondents into two categories: baby boomers and "matures" born in 1945 or earlier. The older group was far more likely to buy brands they considered environmentally safe.

The results of this survey of 30,000 baby boomers appear to contradict the findings of a poll of 1,000 people earlier this month, which found young adults more likely than boomers to make green purchasing decisions.

AARP Services is run by the American Association of Retired Persons, which has 39 million members. Focalyst specializes in market research regarding older consumers.

Many young adults are willing to make lifestyle changes in 2008 for the good of the environment--as long as the efforts are relatively easy, a consumer survey indicates. Fifty-eight percent of adults age 24 or younger plan to make a "green" new year's resolution, according to marketing firm Tiller.

Among all ages surveyed, 49 percent said they would aim to be greener next year. Older respondents were less likely to set such goals, with half of those aged 50 to 64 and 40 percent of people of retirement age claiming they would change their habits for ecological reasons.

Some three-quarters of those polled plan either to reduce their use of energy at home or ramp up recycling efforts. Two-thirds said they intend to use household products with fewer toxic chemicals. Among the least popular adjustments were toting reusable shopping bags to the grocery store, noted by 42 percent of those polled.

Men were less likely to admit feeling badly about not doing enough for the planet. Twenty-six percent of men and 36 percent of women described feeling "green guilt."

The survey was conducted by GfK Roper consumer research and reached 1,004 adults by telephone earlier this month. The margin of error is 3 percent.