The thin green line

A new line of “Green Gardens”-branded home products are being displayed attractively on endcaps inside Target stores this week. From the name, Green Gardens, to the signing on endcaps, “a natural way to save,” the product line has an implied message of environmental sustainability. The soft home products are made with 100% organic cotton, according to tags attached to the merchandise. Beyond the use of organic cotton though, customers will be hard pressed to understand what makes the products worthy of the “green” designation and the tags don’t offer much help. In fact, the opposite is the case, as true sustainability advocates will recognize the goods are manufactured in China, India, Pakistan and Turkey, and therefore have a significant carbon footprint associated with their production and transport. In addition, items such as pillows and seat cushions contain polyester filling, while tags for polyester placements call out that they don’t contain PVC. Customers are increasingly looking to making an environmental statement with their purchasing behavior and may give Green Gardens a look on that basis, but they won’t be making much of a statement considering the product line’s only redeeming green characteristic appears to be the use of organic cotton.