Going Green, and Telling Your Customers

By Jane Eckert

One of the most current and talked about consumer and business intiatives that has all of us getting more involved is “Going Green,” or as one farm calls it, “Growing Green.” Consumers today are beginning to better understand that if we don’t begin to conserve our environment and reduce our carbon footprint, we won’t be leaving this world a better place for our grandchildren.

As farmers, and caretakers of this earth, we all know how important it is to follow good and sound environmental practices on our property. While each of you make your own decisions related to these issues, I believe we all feel strongly about having our land sustain us and continue for future generations. 

You are probably wondering why I’m writing a column on this topic—as you know, I’m about marketing, and, I don’t generally get into political topics. But I am talking about Marketing—Going Green is about marketing when you know that people are now making their travel plans and choosing their travel destinations, hotels, entertainment and food offerings based on the impact to the environment.

It’s all got me thinking:  Are we, as farmer’s, really telling our customers all that we are doing to preserve and protect our farm and farm production?  Are we sharing with them how we recycle and reuse? If you’re not, it might be a new way to better cultivate your existing customers and to attract new ones.

Based on my 2009 end of year farm survey, I asked questions related to what is currently being done on farms related to recyling and green friendly practices. I was interested in their answers, and here is what I was told.
47.5% Use recycle practices
14.4% Just started recyling this year
38.1% Do not recyle

Over 83% of the farms recycle their plastic and tin cans, and 65.1% recycle their cardboard. They say this certainly reduces the waste and provides some small income.

Farms are also following the example of many of the grocery stores, and are now selling or giving away reusable cloth or vinyl bags.  Over 40% of these farms are actually selling the bags at cost or a bit more. Of particular interest to me was that the farms were not only selling the bags but were conscious of where the bags were being manufactured. Several farms said that they would be defeating the purpose if they purchased these bags from China, and have made a special effort to source the bags from within the country.

One of the farms that sells at farmers’ markets has told their customers that everytime they bring their bag back to use at the stand they will get a 10% discount off all produce purchased.  What a great idea to reinforce the use of the bag and to keep that customer loyal to the farm vendor!

The reusable bags received great customer comments.  Farms report that the bags were sometimes used as “freebies” when the farms went off-site to promote their business, or given away at the farm—based on dollar value of purchase.

Farms also indicate that they have been practicing intentional reduction of energy use through more efficient light bulbs and commercial appliances, timers and just plain using less energy. While energy costs continue to rise, it is certainly worth our effort to review our facilities to see how to reduce our energy bills.

Other ways that farms are going green include purchase of compostable food containers, forks and knives, composting yard and animal waste and recyling of water when possible.

On the survey, I also asked the question if the farms were telling their customers about their use of green-friendly practices, and, if they were, how did they communicate that message.
Here is their response:
On site signage            38.4%
Recycle containers      57.8%
Farm website               23.3%
Social Media               11.0%
Did not tell them         28.8%

Other ways to keep your customers informed about your efforts to “Go Green” is to discuss it during your tours, through your newsletters and certainly one-on-one when you are asked. It really is interesting that people are asking farmers about our growing methods and our recyling practices as a matter of daily interaction.  In fact, 46.4% of the farms indicated that they regularly receive questions related to these topics such as “where can I put this plastic?”

If you are incorporating any of these green practices within your business, it’s time to start telling your customers.  Customers today want to know that they are patronizing businesses that are doing the right thing for the environment.  The tourism industry is now recognizing that “green tourism” is a very new and real component of travel choices for many people.  As agritourism operators we are now part of tourism and should be aware of how we fit into this new awareness.

“Going Green” is about making the smart choices to benefit this earth and our food supply.  I encourage you to share your message of what you are doing—people do want to know.

Jane Eckert, a national speaker, author and agritourism expert, is principal of Eckert Agrimarketing (www.eckertagrimarketing.com), a firm that helps farmers sell products directly to consumers and develop their operations into tourist destinations, and CEO of Rural Bounty.com, a consumer based directory of agritourism farms in North America.  Jane can be reached by phone 314-862-6288 or at jane@eckertagrimarketing.com