On the general topic of consumer choices relating to "Sustainable Lifestyle" – the findings of a recent survey are very interesting.

According to the survey: http://www.corporateresponsibility.net/2008/07/07/consumers-will-pay-for-green-products-but-are-more-sceptical/

QUOTE:
According to a green survey from Rackspace Hosting (PDF), 44 percent of respondents are willing to pay more for green products and services this year; down significantly from the 59 percent of respondents that were willing to pay more last year.
…
“It’s interesting to see that customers still think green is very important, but today they may be less willing to pay more or trade performance for lower carbon emissions.

So, assuming that the results of the survey are valid, the question remains as to the significance of the trend: consumer willingness-to-pay higher prices for “green products and services” dropping from 59% (last year) to 44% (this year).

Does this represent a lessening of consumer concern for the major issues of environmental uncertainty (weather / climate), food prices, energy crisis, etc.? Or could the cause be related to an increased cynicism or skepticism related to other developments like all the mega-corporations that are suddenly “going green” for profit?

Those corporate eco/green self-labellers are, of course, in direct contrast to organizations that sell these products and services to support environmental initiatives/activities. If the on-going proliferation companies that have made the transition from {major polluters} to {green washers} to {green profiteers} are a main contributing factor to a loss of consumer confidence that would be unfortunate, since many smaller companies with genuine motives have been actively involved in promoting and expanding the market space for green/ethical/organic products and services for many years...

Report of Full Survey (PDF): http://www.rackspace.com/downloads/surveys/GreenSurvey2008.pdf

Some recent discussions related to this post:

http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/forum/environmental-news-discussion-forum/12769-decline-consumer-confidence-eco-products-services.html

http://www.sustainabilityforum.com/forum/sustainable-lifestyle/2734-decline-consumer-confidence-green-products-services.html

https://www.xing.com/app/forum?op=showarticles;id=10900411

http://discuss.greenoptions.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=583

http://www.environmenthub.com/posts/3377/default.aspx