Is Going Green a Fad?

I hope this post will spur further discussion on this topic.

A friend and I had a conversation over the Thanksgiving holiday that centered on going green. I felt that his argument was quite compelling, but I believe it needs further investigation. He asserted that going green is just a fad that is over -inflating the values of green companies (including their stock price).

I tend to agree that going green is a trend with fad like qualities as more and more people are discussing it and jumping on the green bandwagon. However, going green is not going to go out of style like a fad does. I argue that having a green mentality and utilizing green products and services will become the norm. Once the general population realizes the importance of the benefits behind going green enough momentum will be built that this concept will survive on its own inertia.

There is so much potential for the green market. Marketing hasn't even begun to target the many different segments based on race, class and geographic location. Look at China and the other Asian countries where there are billions of people and millions of automobiles. It wasn't until just the other day that I saw a story on the news where automakers are pushing the sales of more Eco-friendly automobiles that are more fuel efficient and/or run off of alternative fuel sources to people in China. With a population as large as China's, they have a real opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases by utilizing more fuel efficient automobiles. This is just one approach though, think of the opportunities to market, sell and help the environment with products like energy efficient light bulbs, recycled materials, green development, etc...

What about citizens in the U.S. that are considered to be lower class? They should be educated as to how going green benefits the environment and future generations, but can they really afford to do so? They are too focused on living day-to-day that paying the small premium for going green does not produce immediate tangible results for them and is therefore out of their reach.

Something that I question about green products is whether or not they are truly green. Another friend and I had a conversation in which she told me that it actually takes more energy and resources to manufacture a hybrid automobile than that hybrid saves in it's lifetime as compared to a standard automobile. I therefore wonder if all green products are held to some type of measurement standard where their manufacturing process is weighed against their benefits as a green product as well as the manufacture of current products.