Green campaigners and those concerned about the environment were once regarded as fringe activists, ‘tree huggers’ and ‘eco warriors’.

Belittled for their stance against things like road building, corporate pollution, urbanisation and 4×4s, and personified as lentil-eating vegans living in trees.

Now the evidence for man-made climate change is overwhelming with rapidly disappearing ice sheets, rainforest destruction, population growth, species extinction, hurricanes and extreme weather patterns as billions of tonnes of carbon are pumped into the atmosphere every year.

In response, it’s now trendy to be ‘green’ as everybody from the newly green Tories to major banks to supermarket chains to ‘eco’-airlines is keen to show their concern for the environment. Not a day goes by without another announcement that another major business is going green.

But how ‘green’ are these corporations really and how sincere are they in their commitment to the environment? Can a supermarket that uses palm oil obtained from cleared rainforests in its food products and which flies ‘organic’ food half way around the world clocking up a huge carbon footprint be considered green because it asks customers to re-use their plastic carrier bags? Clearly, much of the recent surge to become green is a cynical ploy aimed at capitalising on consumer concerns and increasing profits.

Don’t be fooled! Remember, buy locally produced food. Buy food grown organically, free from pesticides and harmful chemicals. And buy Fairtrade-certified products. For more advice, tips and a list of companies offering truly green products and services see The Green Providers Directory (www.search-for-me.co.uk)

THE GREEN PROVIDERS DIRECTORY

I set up The Green Providers Directory in 2006 in an effort to encourage more consumers to use environmentally friendly, ethical and organic goods and services. I have deliberately set out to make the directory not-for-profit and run it in my spare time out of a genuine commitment to furthering the ‘green’ cause and out of a duty to try and reduce the widespread damage being done to our planet. Whilst there are many green sites that cover environmental damage and discuss the problems of climate change, I felt that they lacked proactivity and failed to engage mainstream consumers, which is needed to facilitate change on a global scale and not just stimulate debate amongst core eco-consumers.

The premise of the directory is based on consumer power. That is, if large numbers of consumers can be educated and convinced of the dangers of climate change, then their combined demand for greener goods and services will cause a paradigm shift in buying behaviour and force companies to adopt policies that reduce harm to the environment

Each company listed has been vetted against their stated ethical policy and a demonstration that they are contributing in some way to combating climate change and environmental damage. We routinely reject applications because they fail to meet these criteria. I have also been keen to avoid associations with ‘pseudo-green’ national corporations who are using the growing concern to jump on the green bandwagon, whilst continuing to pursue non-sustainable business practices. To that effect, you will not find supermarkets, car makers, tobacco companies, etc…anywhere in the directory. As The Green Providers Directory is privately owned and not-for-profit there is no requirement to affiliate with any particular company – it’s completely unbiased and independent.

The basic concept is that visitors to the site can be confident in finding true green companies for all their everyday needs. The advice given is impartial and there is no active selling. This gives the site a point of differentiation from other ‘green’ directories and instills greater credibility.