Shades of green

Lifestyle/Technology: Today’s environmentalists range from good stewards to "carboexics" | Susan Olasky

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

Older folks who lived through the Great Depression often live environmentally friendly lives as a side effect of their thrifty habits. They reuse plastic bags, hang onto rubber bands and twisties, and keep their functioning appliances well after they've lost their fashionable luster. They probably didn't consider themselves environmentalists. They were just frugal.

Now that people define themselves by their environmental sensibilities, marketers are dividing them into two types: bright green and dark green. A New York Times blog stated that dark greens "value environmental aspects of products more than any other attribute, express a high willingness to pay a premium, are inclined to attach high importance to energy independence for their homes, and stress the importance of generating supplies locally." Wikipedia describes dark greens as those who believe that "dominant political ideologies (sometimes referred to as industrialism) are corrupt and inevitably lead to consumerism, alienation from nature and resource depletion."