Moving around a lot the past few years has taught me something: all areas of the United States are not equal. While there are good people everywhere interested in cool things and trying to live meaningful lives, the support they get on the ground from business and other community leaders is often very spotty.

When it comes to things with the words “green” and “sustainable” and “organic” in the title, I’ve discovered that you simply cannot beat the Pacific Northwest, from Vancouver on down to San Francisco. In the places I’ve lived and visited out there, the values behind these words come through in the actual lifestyles that people have.

The Eastern United States though, specifically the mid-Atlantic states, are way behind. Don’t get me wrong: I love Baltimore, and Hampden is currently where my home and my heart is. But it seems like most people out here are just kind of discovering a lot of things that people in other more progressive parts of the US have known for a long time. (With some noteworthy exceptions though: including Tilt Studio, a design firm run by an old college friend of mine, which focuses in and does great work in “sustainable branding”.)

It’s not just Baltimore though - which is still struggling with such elementary things as “bike lanes” and “recycling.” It’s a problem I am seeing in mainstream media and huge companies which are just beginning to catch a whiff of the tremendous potential windfall which comes with any major cultural shift. The big problem I am seeing is this: a lot of companies are trying to get in on the game and position themselves to appear as though they are “sustainable” or “green” or whatever the latest buzzwords are this week. But to a lot of these companies, it is just a show: just another marketing initiative, just another way to make sure that they stay in the thick of things while their competitors are changing to suit the times.

So my question, essentially, becomes: how do you tell for sure if a company actually IS green or sustainable or whatever or if it is just positioning itself to appear that way? As a conscientious consumer, how do you decide and where do you draw the line? From my perspective, the biggest thing these companies need to learn is that these things are not just words. You can’t just slap them onto some shitty product and then make a bunch of money and expect that to last. That’s not sustainable on any real enduring level. It’s just another in a long line of gimmicks. If you want to make your company and your business sustainable, you have to actually LIVE these things. You have to look at your business practices and your product and how you treat people. If you’re not green or sustainable in ways which inter-penetrate all levels of your business, then you’re not doing it right. You’re just using words to manipulate people instead of actually adding value to anyone’s experience, and cultivating sowing seeds for later growth and development.

Businesses going for green/sustainable images have to give up the slash & burn capitalist aesthetic of making a quick buzz-flash and shooting for the maximum profit in the shortest possible time. Things which are sustainable generally mean that you are looking at the long game, planning on lifespan, slow-growth, being reliable, dependable, putting out a good product and providing a service that people can actually count on for years to come. That’s the kind of thing that will always be valuable no matter where you are or what you call it.

- {See also: Slow Movement, Cittaslow, Slow Corporations}

[This post was inspired by conversations with Andy Metcalfe who runs an emerging directory/networking service out of the UK for international businesses and individuals interested in the enduring values behind these business trends which are just starting to pick up all around the world.]