I love Twitter. Why? Because of conversations like the one I had today. Laura Gomez, aka @lauraisgo, a self described, "latina geek who likes: the planet, food, films, languages, writing, fútbol, web 2.0, travel, riojas and music.....and has a crush on Hugh Laurie" reached out to me about a subject I can honestly say hadn't crossed my mind yet: Why haven't more green cleaning product companies reached out to the Latino market?
She said that in many places, it's they who are doing the cleaning, carwashing, and other blue collar service jobs. Is it a matter of companies presuming that their main market is white LOHAS people who shop at Whole Foods? Perhaps.
But in continuing the conversation, Gomez shared with me an interesting observation: Many Latinos, even well educated ones, don't see the relevance to their lives. She herself practices many green behaviors, and to some of her friends, it seems a bit extreme. I asked, putting it bluntly, do they see it as something white people do (and not them)? Yes.
So how do we shift it to something that people, no matter their background, do?
Part of it, it seems, is more information, discussion, and modeling of green behaviors en Espanol, online, on TV, wherever Latinos are best reached. And in the case of Gomez, whose mother cleans houses for a living, she personally tells others about her choices and why they're beneficial. I suggested that, Latino or not, well made, affordable products such as those made by Natural Value would do well in this current economy.
She also shared that the Obama campaign reached out younger Latinos with messages they could then share with their parents. This would seem a wise path to follow for this as well.
Another path I proposed was that outreach and marketing focus on family first, environment / planet second, if at all. As in making greener choices supports the health of you and your family, the hub of Latino life.
In an article called "Do Latinos or Hispanics Care About the Environment?" Gomez later sent me, a recent survey indicates, “more than 80 percent of Latino voters said that energy and environmental issues impact have ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ impact on the quality of life and health of their families.” So there seems to be disagreement between Gomez' experience and what this survey says.
Or perhaps not. They may see that there's an impact, but don't see how they can personally do something about it. Or perhaps they don't feel included in the conversation, so why participate? Organizations like Democracia U.S.A. are taking a proactive approach to shift that, together with the Green Jobs Now campaign.
Readers: What's been your experience in terms of Latino interest in/concern about the environment, and green buying decisions? How does it vary by region, income, education? How can/should green product makers reach out the the Latino market? What sort of education needs to take place? Is there existing channels of communication that could effectively include a greener message?
Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, blogs weekly on green start ups of note at Triple Pundit and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations about, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media marketing.
