Green is In

**"Susan McCoy" b*@impact-pr.com**

FROM THE RED CARPET TO YOUR SHOPPING CART: GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK

This Green Movement, Experts Say, Won't Go out of Style

"It has reached its tipping point," says Susan McCoy, media guru and
owner of the Garden Media Group, a marketing and public relations firm
in Philadelphia.

McCoy isn't talking about the rising cost of gas prices, public opinion
on the war in Iraq or even the unprecedented real estate boom.  

So what is the twenty-year media veteran talking about?  

Eco Chic.  McCoy says the stylish new trend "is changing everything we
do, from the type of cars we drive and the clothes we wear to the food
we eat, even the way we build our homes and tend to our gardens."

But Eco Chic is more than just a green movement; it's a social
perception that living an earth-friendly lifestyle is chic, even cool.
Eco Chic is about finding hip "green products" to support that
lifestyle.

"Just look at the way this trend is changing gardening," says Bruce
Butterfield, research director at the National Gardening Association.

"Our research tells us that some 5 million American families are using
all-natural gardening methods," says Butterfield. 

 "The number of households who "definitely plan to use all natural
gardening methods in the future" will increase to 8 million, and an
additional 12 million say they "probably will". 

GREEN THE "IT" STAR OF THE MOMENT

Experts have spent years studying the way trends emerge and then spread
like wild fire, but it doesn't take an anthropologist or an MBA from
Harvard Business School to see how the Eco Chic trend is spreading.
Even those who get their news from celebrity driven periodicals like US
weekly and People magazine can surmise what ignited this ember-
celebrities, pure and simple.

"Look back a few years ago when Cameron Diaz started lobbying for the
environment," says McCoy.  "When she became public about her commitment
to preserving the environment, other celebrities soon followed."

Suddenly, environmental conservation wasn't only righteous; it was en
vogue.

Today, a slew of celebrities can be found driving hybrid cars and
lobbying for better air quality regulations.  Leonardo Di Caprio and
Drew Barrymore jumped on the bandwagon; even HBO's Larry David, who
plays himself on the hit series Curb Your Enthusiasm, touts a Toyota
Prius. 

Zazel Loven, senior editor at Organic Gardening magazine feels that
celebrities may have spurred the trend but that the movement really
caught on when people realized how easy it is to live an earth friendly
lifestyle.

"People have opened their eyes to different ways they can conserve and
live more in tune with the environment," says Loven.  "Today, recycling
isn't something extra you do; it's just something you do."

TWO GREEN THUMBS UP

 McCoy, who specializes in gardening-focused communications, says garden
companies are developing new earth friendly plants and garden products
to meet the growing consumer demand for an eco friendly lifestyle.

"For years we have focused on keeping our outdoors beautiful using fast
food fertilizer, pesticides and other chemicals," she says.  "The new
focus is on developing naturally disease-resistant plants and earth
friendly products for keeping plants healthy and disease free."

Products like MessengerR (www.messenger.info), a plant health activator
that assists plants' fights against diseases by boosting their immune
systems similar to the way a doctor vaccinates patients, is an
earth-friendly garden innovation born out of this movement.  

Home garden enthusiasts who want to harness the power of Mother Nature
are realizing the importance of gardening underground by using products
like LazyMan Liquid Soil Aerator (www.outsidepride.com) to transform
their hard-packed clay soil or sieve-like sandy soil into great garden
soil teeming with earth worms and other great garden bugs.

Petroleum based products are being replaced on garden center shelves, as
well.   For instance in the category of superabsorbent, water-saving
granules, an all-natural cornstarch based alternative, ZebaT QuenchT
(www.zeba.com), is now available. Not only does Quench outperform the
others, it is biodegradable..

"People want to know that they are not polluting the air, water or
earth," says Butterfield, "but more importantly, they want to know that
they are not hurting their families and pets with the products they
use."

StarR Roses introduced the Knock OutR Shrub rose in 2000, and now it's
practically single handedly driving the whole rose category.  Raymond
Evison designed his new Patio ClematisR, released last year, to be
something previous clematis were not - disease-resistant.

Although most trends are flashes in the pan, McCoy is confident that the
green movement is here to stay.  In the future, Eco Chic may become too
widespread to remain chic, but McCoy is certain that preserving natural
resources and working for a better tomorrow is one trend that will never
go out of style.

For more Eco Chic green products, visit www.gardenmediagroup.com.  

###

Susan McCoy
Office: 610-388-9330
Mobile:610-220-8400

IMPACT Marketing/Garden Media Group
PO Box 758
Chadds Ford, PA  19317
www.gardenmediagroup.com

"We make you popular with your customers!"

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