In his book, The Green Collar Economy, Van Jones writes that many of the green consumer stereotypes that exist are downright wrong:

The Green Collar Worker: “When you think of the emerging green economy, don’t think of George Jetson with a jet pack. Think of Joe Sixpack with a hard hat and lunch bucket, sleeves rolled up, going off to fix America. Think of Rosie the Riveter, manufacturing parts for hybrid buses or wind turbines. Those images will represent the true face of a green-collar America.”

The Green Shopper: “People imagine a few Hollywood celebrities eating tofu, doing yoga, and driving hybrid cars. They envision affluent white people who care about nothing but polar bears and can afford to shop at health-food stores and put solar panels on their second home …Many of these caricatures are grossly unfair.”

According to The McKinsey Quarterly, the impulse to “go green” is spreading fast …

“but when it comes time to actually buying green goods, words and deeds often part ways. No more than 33 percent of the consumers in our survey say they are ready to buy green products or have already done so. In a 2007 Chain Store Age survey of 822 US consumers, only 25 percent of them report having bought any green product other than organic foods or energy-efficient lighting.

These numbers seem to reflect a pretty good startint point so I guess the glass is half full for this blogger. Check out the full article at http://tinyurl.com/5whno8.