Intensification of sales of environmentally friendly products. Ecological marketing: prerequisites for formation and main characteristics. Corporations save nature or destroy

As a result of studying this chapter, the student should:

know

the main results of the latest research on environmental marketing;
models of behavior of economic agents and markets;
basic concepts, methods and tools for quantitative and qualitative analysis of environmental marketing management processes;
the main elements of the process of developing strategies for the implementation of environmental marketing in the enterprise;
main Information Technology business process management in the implementation of environmental marketing at the enterprise and in target markets;

be able to

analyze and develop the organization's strategy based on modern methods and advanced scientific achievements;
reveal promising directions scientific research, substantiate the relevance, theoretical and practical significance of the problem under study, formulate hypotheses, conduct empirical and applied research;
process empirical and experimental data;
conduct quantitative forecasting and modeling of business process management;

own

methodology and methodology for conducting scientific research in environmental marketing;
skills of independent scientific and research work in relation to marketing in the environmental field of activity;
quantitative and qualitative analysis skills for acceptance management decisions in the environmental aspect related to the promotion of goods and services;
methodology for building organizational and managerial models of an organization, a model for positioning environmental goods and market segmentation;
information technologies for forecasting and management business processes, building the necessary distribution channels, communication policy.

The concept and history of the development of environmental marketing

The development of environmental marketing is due to the concept of "ecology", which is interpreted as the science of the relationship of living organisms with the environment. Environmental problems are regularly covered in a variety of media, their relevance has increased dramatically in recent years and there is no doubt among not only scientists and politicians, but also businessmen and the public. On the Internet, thousands of non-commercial sites, blogs, forums are devoted to environmental issues, which clearly shows that the world community has taken this problem to a qualitatively new level.

Environmental marketing is an integral part of the entire world policy, which leads to the solution of problems associated with pollution of the atmosphere, nature and the surrounding area as a whole. It must be remembered that ensuring environmental security is the main geopolitical factor and driving force the well-being of society, which is inextricably linked with the reduction of human life expectancy, as well as problems in the field of nature and ecology arising from international military operations.

There is no unity of definitions of ecological marketing. This concept is considered from different positions.

Environmental marketing is based on environmental policy, environmental responsibility of organizations and enterprises and transparency of production and technological processes, including environmental labeling. It is proposed to include in environmental marketing the formation financial institutions support for environmental actions, environmental audit, environmental insurance of companies' actions, changes in the reporting forms of manufacturers, new forms of advertising, the formation of new trade principles (for example, the sale of environmentally friendly products).

The Encyclopedia of Marketing defines it as follows: "Green marketing is marketing that aims to change the mindset of consumers, provide a new direction for competition, and achieve market acceptance of innovative solutions to environmental problems."

Ecological marketing is a set of means and methods of a company to meet the various interests of consumers through more intensive promotion of relevant goods and services with minimal harm to the environment at all stages of development.

Life cycle represents interconnected and consecutive periods production cycle from obtaining the necessary natural resources and raw materials to their subsequent end use and disposal in the environment. At the same time, not only the stages or stages of production of the final product, but also the extraction of natural resources, auxiliary production, transportation, and compliance with environmental standards for waste disposal should be seriously considered.

Socio-ethical marketing, which determined the needs and interests of target markets, the tasks and needs of any company in order to provide a more efficient and more economic mode of production than competitors, while strengthening the well-being of the consumer and society, ultimately became the cause of environmental marketing. A number of other reasons for traditional marketing led to this, primarily related to the lack of natural resources, environmental degradation, population growth, deterioration of the social services. Of the positive factors of that time, one can note the influence of non-governmental environmental organizations, public concern about the state and even deterioration of the environment, the emergence various associations, organizations, groups of public environmental expertise.

There are several stages in the development of environmental marketing.

Stage I (1960-1970s) involves international cooperation (including mega levels) in the development of national legislative acts, in financing environmental activities. International cooperation in the field of ecology has been carried out since 1972. this stage the report "Limits to Growth", prepared by an international team of authors headed by D. Meadows, and the materials of the First international conference PLO on environmental issues.

Ethan II (1980-1990s) is associated with aspects of global security in the field of ecology. The basis was the International Commission on Environment and Development, established in 1983, and the scientific report "Our Common Future" (1987), which laid the foundation for the concept of sustainable development (sustainable development). This stage can be called the stage of sustainable development, which allows you to control the needs of generations and preserve the nature of the future nation. Crucial to form this provision, the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, at which the "Declaration on Environment and Development" and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change were agreed and adopted. Convention on Biological Diversity, Principles of Forestry.

Stage III (1997 - present) is associated with the development and unification of states in the field of specific obligations in the areas of water supply, energy, Agriculture, biosystem conservation. A huge role in this process can be given to the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 and ratified by 192 countries.

Ecological marketing in many states began to have a legislative basis. The environmental component of the development of society has become a new factor influencing business in general and marketing. Consumers tend to buy natural, ecological products in an effort to control their lifestyle. The drivers of corporate environmental responsibility are primarily consumers and shareholders of the company. Consumers purchase environmental goods and services from companies that strive to conduct their business in accordance with their requirements and expectations.

Of particular relevance among the concepts of enterprise development has acquired the concept of social and ethical marketing. This concept is driven by the concept of sustainable development. The concept is based on the observance of the interests of producers - in terms of making profits, consumers - in terms of meeting the needs and society - in terms of sustainable environmental, social and economic development.

Concept of ecological marketing is an integral part of the concept of social and ethical marketing. It is focused on meeting the needs and demands of consumers in ecological products, as well as on stimulating the demand for organic products and raw materials,

including environmental safety of production. Ecological needs and ecological goods can be distinguished as categories of ecological marketing.

Environmental needs aimed at meeting the needs of consumers in the field of environmental safety.

Ecological goods - products that meet three criteria: economy, environmental friendliness and safety.

Ecological products are divided into environmentally neutral and environmentally oriented products. Environmentally neutral are goods, the production and consumption of which do not destroy the environment, but environmentally oriented production and consumption of which have a positive impact on the environment.

The production of environmental goods includes such areas as the manufacture, installation and operation of environmental (purification) facilities, the development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies, the processing, transportation and disposal of waste, the elimination of toxic waste, the trade in environmental technologies, products and waste, energy conservation, conservation land resources, production of environmentally clean products nutrition, eco-audit and eco-expertise, water, air control, environmental lending and insurance, environmental propaganda and education, ecotourism, environmental medicine and occupational safety, information technology, life protection systems, maintaining ecosystem balance.

The concept of "environmental goods" in the Russian market for domestic producers is associated with an innovative product. In most cases, this is a misconception. They can be considered innovative if their development is based on the achievements of science and technology or they are the result of fundamental research and discoveries that previously simply had no analogues for the following reasons:

a) the needs and demands of consumers, for which the new products are intended, were previously satisfied in a completely different way (the first type of fundamentally new innovations);
b) the needs to be met by new goods simply did not exist before (the second type of fundamentally new innovations).

first kind are:

manufactured goods providing Negative influence on nature and the environment;
consumer goods that are an assistant to the consumer.

Products of ecological innovations second kind can serve:

industrial goods - technologies, metal products with memory effect;
consumer goods - packaging made from bio-organic raw materials that decompose without harming the environment.

To search for ideas in the field of environmental innovation, the following methods are used:

forecasting consumer requests and their future needs;
consumer behavior modeling (situational and simulation);
analysis of the dynamics of development of all trends in society (scientific and technological progress, politics, economics, culture, ecology).

In the conditions of modern market economy more significant is the motivation of consumers to buy new environmental products, when manufacturers orient their activities to meet the needs of consumers and when consumers have greater freedom of choice.

In product promotion important role play advertising, sales promotion, propaganda (publicity), public relations, personal selling, i.e. what can be attributed to the marketing incentive complex.

informing consumers about the existence of environmental goods on the market;
substantiation of the high level of prices of environmental goods by comparing and contrasting conventional goods and environmental ones. At the same time, one should take into account economic feasibility consumption of environmental goods and the side effects associated with the production of goods and waste disposal, maintaining the health of consumers and improving the quality of life.

Sales promotion includes a set of activities aimed at the consumer or seller (intermediary), which are applicable to stimulate demand for environmental products.

Propaganda (publicity) provides for, for example, the involvement of celebrities (celebrity) in order to increase consumer confidence.

Public relations is the ecological development of society. Implementation should be carried out through environmental programs, forums of international importance.

Considering the turnover of the global eco-products market, there is a noticeable increase of 20%, or 4 billion euros, annually, according to RBC. The global market for eco-products is the least affected by the crisis, so for the period from 2000-2010. the market has increased markedly - from 18 to 60 billion dollars. The leading markets are the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France.

Based on the analysis this market, according to the company NBC Universal , for 2010, all consumers of eco-products in the United States were divided into groups:

1. dark green , or alpha ecos. They are concerned about environmental issues (nature conservation, global warming issues). They occupy a significant share in the consumption of eco-products. The number of such consumers is 43 million people.
2. ecocentrics, or ecocentrics. Their interests are connected only with the individual consumption of eco-products, they pay for products that

exclusively benefit their health. They are not interested in environmental issues. Number - 34 million people.

3. Ecomods , or ecochics. This group includes the young population, who are not concerned about anything, who consider it fashionable to be in the "green" trend. They occupy the largest segment - about 60 million people.
4. Economists , or economically ecos. This segment of 53 million people is concerned about saving money in the future by purchasing environmental products in the present.
5. eco moms, or ecomoms. This group is interested in environmental goods for children, concerned about the state of nature and the health of future descendants.

In Russia, interest in useful environmental products is increasing every year. Proper positioning of eco-products is the key to promoting the company on the Russian market.

According to research conducted by the Romir Research Holding in November 2012, Russians are willing to pay for environmentally friendly products. When buying food, most buyers first of all pay attention to the composition (ingredients) and price.

In Russia, all potential consumers of eco-products were divided into the following groups.

The most massive are people who travel a lot, are quite mobile, set priorities in life and are well aware of the benefits of organic products.

Forced group - people suffering from an allergic reaction to chemical additives.

Fashion group - an analogue of ecomods (ecochics) - people who believe that they should be consumers organic products and it is fashionable to refer to the "luxury" segment.

Conducted company research International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements showed that Russian market eco-products accounts for 0.1% of the total food market. In 2010, the volume of sales in the market of eco-products amounted to 80 million dollars, due to imports from Germany.

Marketing is a type of human activity aimed at meeting the needs and demands of consumers through exchange.

M marketing - a set of measures aimed at identifying and analyzing the factors that influence the processes of promoting goods from the manufacturer to consumers, and taking them into account in the production and marketing activities of enterprises in order to ensure conditions for long-term survival and development in the market.

Among the concepts of enterprise development, the concept of social and ethical marketing. Its essence is to identify the needs and demands of consumers and meet them in more efficient ways than competitors, while simultaneously increasing the welfare of society as a whole.

The concept of social and ethical marketing is in line with the concept of sustainable development, its observance allows you to harmonize the interests of producers (profit), consumers (satisfaction of needs) and society as a whole (sustainable ecological, social and economic development).

From this concept arose ecological marketing concept , which can be formulated as follows: production and marketing orientationsatisfaction environmentally oriented needs and demands of consumers,creationandstimulation demandfor environmental goods (products or services), economicallyeffectiveand environmentallysafein production and consumption. The main categories of environmental marketing are environmental needs and environmental products that can satisfy these needs.

Under environmental needs of consumers (society as a whole) one should understand those needs, the satisfaction of which does not have an eco-destructive effect on consumers, the environment of their existence and life, and contributes to the greening of the environment.

To environmental goods include those that are cost-effective and environmentally friendly in their production, consumption and disposal.

Home task environmental marketing is the formation of a market for environmental goods in order to resolve the contradictions between economic development and the need to preserve and improve the quality of the environment. The main directions of formation and development of the market of environmental goods in Ukraine are shown in fig. one.

Rice. one. Directions for the development of the market of environmental goods

2. Ecological goods

Ecological goods should include environmentally neutral and environmentally oriented goods. Ecologically neutral - goods, the production and consumption of which does not destroy the environment. Ecologically directed - goods, the production and consumption of which brings positive changes to the environment.

The production of environmental goods (products and services - environmental entrepreneurship) is developing mainly in the following areas:

manufacturing, installation and operation of environmental (purification) facilities;

development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies;

processing, transportation and disposal of waste, elimination of toxic waste;

trade in environmental technologies, products and waste;

energy saving;

conservation of land resources;

production of environmentally friendly food products;

eco-audit and eco-expertise;

water, air control;

environmental lending and insurance;

environmental advocacy and education;

ecotourism;

environmental medicine and occupational safety;

Information Technology;

life protection systems;

maintaining the balance of ecosystems.

It should be noted that environmental goods (both products and services) are mostly new for domestic producers, i.e. innovative. Since there is a demand for them, and it is growing, it would be unwise not to take advantage of this situation. According to the concept of marketing, the search for ideas for new products, including environmental ones, should be based primarily on the results of an analysis of the needs and demands of consumers. However, the search for innovation ideas is inherent in a certain specificity of market research.

This specificity lies in the fact that the development of innovations (especially those based on the latest achievements of science and technology, the results of fundamental research and discoveries) in many cases is associated with the creation of goods that simply had no analogues before for the following reasons:

the needs and demands of consumers, which new products are intended to satisfy, were previously satisfied in a completely different way (the first type of fundamentally new innovations);

the needs to be met by new products simply did not exist before (the second type of fundamentally new innovations).

Examples environmentalininnovations first kind can serve:

for industrial goods - equipment and technologies for the manufacture of artificial superhard materials instead of mining such in nature, which leads to the violation of natural landscapes and environmental pollution;

for consumer goods - washing vacuum cleaners, which, in addition to dust suction, have the function of wet cleaning, and they carry it out much cleaner than the "manual" way.

Examples environmentalininnovations second kind can serve:

for industrial products - multimedia Computer techologies information processing, metal products with a memory effect, which, when heated, for example, by high-frequency current, are able to return to the previous form, and others;

for consumer goods - pagers, packaging that, after use, decomposes in an environmentally friendly way into harmless minerals, etc.

Naturally, the traditional methods of searching for ideas of this kind of ecological innovations based on the analysis of the needs and demands of consumers cannot be applied to innovations of the second type.

In this case, specific methods are used, such as:

forecasting future needs and requests of consumers, changing the motivation of their behavior;

situational and simulation modeling of consumer behavior in the present and future;

analysis of trends in the development of scientific and technological progress, changes in technological, economic, social, political, cultural, legal, environmental and other components of the business environment (Ilyashenko, 1999).

Ecological marketing is the process of meeting the needs of consumers by promoting goods and services that cause minimal harm to the environment at all stages. life cycle and created by means of the minimum possible volume of natural (including energy) resources.

Formation of environmentally conscious needs in the market, adaptation of production to market conditions and creation of conditions for preserving the environment, development of competitive, environmentally friendly products, intensification of sales of environmentally friendly products, obtaining additional profit due to the greening of production.

Adoption of generally binding legislative norms prescribing certain standards for the use of natural benefits; In addition, the concept of environmental marketing provides for strict control and licensing of the extraction of natural resources; Economic incentives for producers, aimed at ensuring that they are interested in the use of environmentally friendly technologies; Funding for research and development, contributing to the development of new waste-free and safe technologies that will use less harmful chemicals, production methods, etc.; Development of a system of economic taxes and fines for environmental pollution.

Choosing the most environmentally friendly production method; careful supervision of the operation of equipment and compliance with production technology, if necessary, its improvement. timely scheduled repairs of equipment, especially for environmental purposes, including capital ones: monitoring compliance with environmental standards in order to avoid additional penalties from regulatory authorities, and hence additional costs from the enterprise; selection of the safest technology for waste disposal and constant monitoring of their composition.

The main reasons for the greening of business are the creation of a positive image in the eyes of consumers, shareholders and investors, as well as the saving of material and energy resources. 54% top managers called the ability to build a positive corporate reputation the main incentive for green projects. Environmentally oriented changes in the production process, as a rule, are carried out by reducing the consumption of materials and energy per unit of production and are accompanied by cost savings.

The concept of environmental marketing and its main elements

To date, there is more than one definition of environmental marketing. This is due to the fact that this area is developing relatively recently: the Greens started talking about the need for ecological production only in the seventies, and the Kyoto Protocol (the most important document in this area regulating greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere) was signed only in 1992. the definition has controversial boundaries, so different researchers interpret this term for themselves in different ways. So some scientists consider environmental marketing as part of strategic development enterprises: new forms of product promotion, environmental insurance, environmental audit. Some researchers are of the opinion that environmental marketing is a tool for environmental management. Other experts suggest that ecological marketing should be considered an environmental policy, which includes the openness of production and special environmental certification of the product. From these approaches, it is obvious that the economic community still does not have a conventionally accepted definition of environmental marketing. In this term paper an integrated approach to the concept of "environmental marketing" will be applied.

Ecological marketing is the process of meeting the needs of consumers by promoting goods and services that cause minimal harm to the environment at all stages of the life cycle and are created using the minimum possible amount of natural (including energy) resources. This direction"grew" in the nineties from socially ethical marketing, which appeared ten years earlier. Socially ethical marketing aimed to satisfy consumers with a quality product that would fully meet consumer needs, while requiring minimal environmental and physical costs. Socially ethical marketing emerged as a response to traditional marketing, which aimed to increase profits while minimizing costs, without regard to the quality of the product.

The development of eco-marketing has become possible with the advent of new production methods that can significantly reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment. Today, not only the consumer demands the environmental responsibility of the enterprise, but this aspect is also being regulated at the state level.

There are a number of activities that underlie environmental marketing:

environmental audit;
· development of new environmental principles of trade (products from recycled materials, environmentally friendly goods, etc.);
environmental insurance;
formation of a budget for the development and support of the environmental direction at the enterprise;
development of new forms of advertising;
Inclusion of reporting on environmental activities in the general reports of the company.

The strategy of ecological marketing aims to regulate relations with the environment as much as possible at all stages of production and the further life cycle of the product. So the eco-marketing strategy implies the need for special management, which should take into account several aspects. Actually environmental aspect provides for the regulation of environmental loads and optimization of the use of natural resources. The control of the implementation of this aspect will be the assessment of the environmental efficiency of the enterprise. Under social aspect implies the assessment of production activities by various environmental non-profit organizations, public groups dealing with the problems of the natural environment. Market aspect Responsible for the continuous monitoring of product environmental safety requirements. The source of such requirements can be both the consumer and the state, for example. Enterprises must constantly comply modern requirements and develop innovative capacity in solving environmental problems. And finally political aspect is responsible for the compliance of the enterprise's activities with the existing legislative requirements in the field of environmental protection and nature management.

Environmental marketing to achieve its goals sets the following tasks, which are aimed at taking into account all aspects; and should also promote successful implementation environmental strategy of the enterprise:

· minimization and optimization of the use of natural resources;
regulation of emissions into the environment;
reduction of production waste by recycling or minimizing their quantity;
production of harmless products or minimization of risks at each stage of the life cycle.

Thus, the environmental strategy of the enterprise can be expressed in the following scheme:

Rice. 1. Production process in the implementation of the environmental strategy of the enterprise

Thus, the creation and implementation of an environmental strategy is preceded by an analysis of the internal and external environment the functioning of the company using marketing analytics tools, which initially take into account the environmental factor.

It is worth noting that for effective implementation environmental strategy, an enterprise needs to develop a special set of management actions (management) based on a toolkit that includes a certain set of elements: regulatory, strategic and operational.

The regulatory aspect includes the development of a company's environmental behavior program. This program should describe the rules and future actions, the general environmental responsibilities of the enterprise, environmental compliance standards.

The strategic level implies the development of new environmental goals and their implementation in an existing system at the enterprise; continuous improvement of environmental management and control, as well as continuous monitoring and adjustment (if necessary) of the implementation of the strategic plan.

The operational level is a set of tools for monitoring the ongoing environmental program of the enterprise: environmental audit, calculation of the environmental friendliness of production, waste accounting, development of environmental indicators.

The basis of environmental management in the enterprise is the operational level. For the competent implementation of the environmental management strategy, it is necessary to work with all its elements:

- development of ecological balances;
- environmental accounting;
- environmental control;
- environmental audit.

The consequence of the development of environmental balances will be the evaluation of the product, taking into account environmental factor. The evaluation of the production of this product will also be carried out, since the environmental strategy involves monitoring environmental friendliness at all stages of the product life cycle.

“The process of developing environmental balances in an enterprise requires solving two main problems:

- development of models for classifying and weighing environmental impact factors;
- preparation of the necessary information on the average environmental load resulting from the use of individual materials and processes”.

To date, environmental balances are developed taking into account all stages of the product life cycle. Such analysis is very costly for the enterprise, so secondary information and basic data are often used. In this case, it should be borne in mind that this analysis does not provide 100% accuracy. The algorithm for developing ecological balances can be expressed in the following scheme:

Rice. 2. Scheme of the procedure for developing environmental balances

Environmental accounting is a complex of assessment and monitoring of various natural factors in the activities of an enterprise. For the necessary calculations, a special accounting nomenclature is often used. The result of environmental accounting - reports that illustrate the environmental activities of the enterprise, the possibility of reducing the indicators of the enterprise's load on the environment.

Environmental control is a constant correlation of the enterprise's activities with its environmental program.

Environmental audit - entrepreneurial activity environmental auditors (organizations) to carry out independent non-departmental audits economic activity that has an impact on the environment, and the development of recommendations to reduce the negative impact on it and public health.

It is impossible to talk about the implementation of the environmental strategy of an enterprise without implying managerial factor. Above, the aspects necessary for attention were presented, which will allow building a competent external environmental strategy of the enterprise and are internal regulators. However, there are also external regulators. Currently, the following main groups of management methods are known:

· administrative regulation- the introduction of relevant regulatory standards and restrictions that must be observed by manufacturing companies, as well as the implementation of direct control and licensing of environmental management processes;
· economic incentives aimed at making the manufacturer interested in environmental management;
· a system of pollution charges and a system of environmental taxes;
· Distribution of pollution rights and compensation payments.

Trifonova believes that a special role is given to payments and taxes for pollution. “They (payments and taxes) are indirect levers of influence and are expressed in the establishment of fees for emissions or discharges, for the use of primary resources, end products or technology. The fee should correspond to the socio-economic harm from pollution or be determined by some other indicator (for example, economic evaluation assimilation potential of the environment). Payments and taxes give the manufacturer maximum freedom in choosing a strategy for combining the degree of purification and payment for the residual emission. If environmental costs are high, then the firm will reduce emissions instead of paying a tax. It is assumed that it can reduce them to an optimal level, when the incremental costs of additional cleaning become equal to the rate of payment. The user of any resource pays for it in the same way as for the purchased raw materials, electricity, etc.”

Environmental marketing is a special tool for implementing the environmental strategy of an enterprise, which requires a thorough approach, as well as a special management apparatus. For the successful implementation of the environmental marketing program, it is necessary to take into account all the features of the internal and external environment of the enterprise.

GREEN MARKETING: PRECONDITIONS OF FORMATION AND MAIN FEATURES

Iman Gemaeva

student Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University,

Russia, Velikiy Novgorod

Irina Vasilyeva

ph.D (Economics), Associate professor of the Department of “Marketing and HR management” Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University,

Russia, Velikiy Novgorod

ANNOTATION

The article deals with theoretical basis environmental marketing. It was determined that the ecological footprint was one of the main prerequisites for the formation of ecological marketing. The tools with the help of which environmental marketing is carried out at the enterprise are given. On the specific example Amway reviewed the practice of applying environmental marketing.

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the theoretical foundations of green marketing. It was determined that the ecological footprint was one of the main prerequisites for the formation of green marketing. Presents the tools with which the green marketing in the enterprise. A specific example of Amway considered the practice of green marketing.

Keywords: ecological footprint, biocapacity, ecolabels, environment.

keywords: ecological footprint, biocapacity, ecological marking, environment.

Fundamental studies of the consequences resulting from the growth in the consumption of natural resources by mankind were launched in 1968 by the Club of Rome. These studies put an end to the myth of the “happy future of mankind”, demonstrating the inevitability of global catastrophes at the beginning of the 21st century as a result of a population explosion in developing countries, environmental pollution, and depletion of natural resources.

The relevance of the environmental problem in recent decades is not in doubt not only among scientists, but also among politicians, businessmen, and the population as a whole. Environmental problems at various levels are regularly covered in the media. This shows that everything social groups have become involved in solving environmental problems, since no one can stand aside and pretend that this does not concern him.

Every person on Earth leaves their own ecological footprint - the level of human impact on the environment, this is the surface area of the Earth necessary in order to provide humanity with resources and absorb human waste. Therefore, the less a person will use resources, the less will be the amount of waste, and, consequently, the ecological footprint. It should be noted that 1/3 of the purchased products in the world are thrown away, which negatively affects the environment.

Figure 1 shows the dynamics of economic footprint, biocapacity and population. It is observed that the ecological footprint has a positive trend. First of all, this happened due to the growth in energy consumption, leading to a large amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, as well as due to the expansion of agricultural areas. As a result, industrialized countries exert the greatest “pressure” on the natural environment.

The increase in the productivity of the Earth was insufficient even to compensate for the increase in the population of the planet.

Figure 1. Growing global ecological footprint

The economic footprint and human awareness of the problem of environmental pollution have become a challenge for the creation and development of a green or ecological economy.

In the late 1980s - early 1990s. the concept of "green marketing" appears, which embodied the formation economic indicators taking into account environmental aspect. Environmental marketing is the company's activity to satisfy the interests of consumers by promoting products and services that cause minimal harm to the environment at all stages of the life cycle.

Environmental marketing at the enterprise is carried out using the following tools:

choosing an environmentally friendly production method;
careful supervision of the operation of equipment and compliance with production technology;
constant monitoring of the state of equipment and timely repair;
choosing the safest way to dispose of waste.

Environmentally friendly production processes must meet the following requirements:

absence of pollutants;
production without waste;
safety for the health of workers;
minimum level of energy consumption;
efficiency of resource consumption.

In practice, to confirm the environmental safety of products, an environmental label is used - a special sign or symbol that is assigned as a result of an appropriate check for compliance with the developed environmental indicators. The mark confirms that the product or service is safe for both the consumer and the environment. Figure 2 presents various ecolabels adopted at the international and national levels.

Figure 2. Examples of ecolabels. 1 - "Blue Angel" (Germany), 2 - "EU Flower", 3 - "Northern Swan" (Scandinavian countries), 4 - "Environmental Choice" (Canada) , 5 – "Eco-sign" (Japan), 6 - "Leaf of Life" (Russia)

A prime example of a green marketing company is Amway, which provides business opportunities in more than 80 countries and regions. The main goal of forming the marketing greening mechanism is to create conditions that ensure the greening of production through the use of economic levers and incentives.

The products of this company have special environmental characteristics, which are confirmed by the UN award for the preservation of the environment and Greenpeace awards for the contribution to the protection of the environment.

The company uses biodegradable packaging in its production - packaging that, under the influence of environmental factors, decomposes into safe natural substances in a short time.

To date, not all segments of the population can purchase environmentally friendly products of this company. The manufacturer needs a lot of money to technological equipment, Scientific research, exit to new market, which leads to an increase in the cost, and consequently, the price.

The Amway example proves that environmental marketing is a positive tool for the sustainable development of the company, as well as the protection of the natural environment.

Bibliography:

WWF Living Planet 2014. – [ Electronic resource] - Access mode. – URL: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/images/article_uploads/LPR_2014_SUMMARY_ru_net.pdf (Accessed 04/25/2016).
Smirnova El. Ecological marketing and its foundations. – [Electronic resource] – Access mode. – URL: http://www.marketing.spb.ru/lib-mm/strategy/eco_marketing.htm (Accessed 05/27/2016).
ECOCERTIFICATION "LEAF OF LIFE" - [Electronic resource] - Access mode. – URL: http://ecounion.ru/leaf-of-life/about-program/program-leaf-of-life/ (Accessed 01.05.2016).
Environmental labeling (eco-labeling) and conformity marks. – [Electronic resource] – Access mode. – URL: http://arena-rv.ru/ecolabeling.html (Accessed 01.05.2016).

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