Page 108 - Foundations of Marketing

The Marketing Environment, Social Responsibility, and Ethics | Chapter 3 75

Green Product Offerings
Whole Foods focuses on
sustainable, locally-sourced
food products when possible.
Local sourcing reduces
greenhouse gases by reducing
transportation.

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energy. Many companies are making contributions to environmental protection organizations,
sponsoring and participating in cleanup events, promoting recycling, retooling manufacturing
processes to minimize waste and pollution, employing more environmentally friendly energy
sources, and generally reevaluating the effects of their products on the natural environment.
This approach to the environment is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
As mentioned in Chapter 1 , green marketing is a strategic process involving stakeholder
assessment to create meaningful long-term relationships with customers while maintaining,
supporting, and enhancing the natural environment. Many products have been certified as

Going Green

Google’s New Venture: Going Green

Can a multi-billion-dollar corporation really become a social responsibility. The company realizes that it can
zero-carbon operation? According to Google’s CEO Larry give back not only technologically but also proactively
Page, it is certainly going to try. In 2007, Google estab- by essentially eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
lished the green initiative RE<C, which stands for renew- Google began these efforts by marketing the benefits of
able energy is cheaper than coal, to reduce the company’s going green to its employees. It provides its employees
carbon footprint. The company is taking proactive steps to with energy-efficient modes of transportation and has
reduce carbon emissions from its day-to-day operations. installed the largest network of electric vehicle charging
It plans to achieve this goal by investing in solar and wind stations in the United States. Google’s green initiatives
producers, purchasing carbon offsets, and constructing its also enhance its reputation with its target market, as
data centers more efficiently. many companies and consumers prefer doing business
The company has marketed its green efforts as some- with sustainable firms. If its carbon-efficient blueprint
thing new, innovative, and ambitious that other compa- becomes a successful endeavor, Google may have found
nies can potentially emulate. For Google, going green has an inadvertent way to market social responsibility by just
been an initiative that has proven its commitment toward doing the right thing.
d

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