Everywhere you look these days, everyone is talking about going green. Everything from using canvas to bring home your groceries, using energy-saving light bulbs, eating organic, etc. The truth is green is the new black. It’s the new red, the new white; the new red, white and blue. In the pages of newspapers and magazines, green is usurping just about every other color in the rainbow. So, at the risk of sounding cliché, we’ll just go ahead and say it: Green is the new gray.

What? Well, when green gets washed out, or “greenwashed,” it becomes gray. You see, some companies are making green a way of life. Others simply use green as a marketing tool. Having an un-environmentally friendly product or practice but packaging it in a recycled box does not make you green.

Being green isn’t about putting on your Birkenstocks, hugging trees and running around yelling about the environment. Being green is a consciousness, a state of awareness that change needs to be beneficial not only to ourselves but to the people, the planet, the life around us.

So how do you differentiate between green and greenwash? We’ll try to help. It is in this spirit that in October, FCNews will be publishing the industry’s first green guide, where we will delve into a host of topics pertinent to the retailer as well as architect and designer. These would include how each category positions itself as environmentally friendly—whether it be recycled content, chain of custody, legal logging practices, etc.—LEED issues, green interior design, responsible manufacturing practices, sustainability, greenwashing, FTC marketing regulations, traceability, latest legislation, specific products and much more.

Of course, we’ll be talking about what suppliers are doing. We’ll try to include as many as possible, but given the space limitations, you’ll certainly want to explore sponsorship opportunities, which will guarantee your story and initiatives be included. It also gives you the option of adding an educational piece to the magazine, which will only further your position as an expert in the field.

I strongly suggest contacting our national sales manager, Dustin Aaronson, about these opportunities. Aside from insertion into that issue of FCNews, the supplement will be overrun as a standalone piece for retailers to request and have added distribution at GreenBuild and Surfaces.

Finally, if there is any topic you’d like to see included in this publication, drop me an email (fcnsteve@yahoo.com). We’d like this to be as informative and useful as possible.