Lemons into Lemonade

One company has developed a clever way to keep BPA-laced water bottles out of the landfill. “Just pull off the old cap and replace it with a safe, bright, environmentally friendly solar-powered LED LightCap200,” suggest SolLight.

The light may not be bright enough to light up a campsite, but if nothing else, it’s a colorful conversation starter.

www.sollight.com

Get on the Bus

12 Dartmouth students, one veggie-powered bus, 13,000 sustainable miles. For the 4th year students from Dartmouth are taking the road to promote the messages of sustainable living, the viability of alternative energy sources and solutions to local and global energy issues.

The Big Green Bus has stops scheduled in 23 states for this year's tour. Check out the tour map to see if the bus is coming your way. Maybe you can convince them to pop by your store or offices. College kids always like free beer and food.

Here’s the link: http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/index.html

More Channels, So What?

American TV watchers have more options than ever for their viewing pleasure. Thing is, they’re not really watching any more of them.

Overall, the number of channels received by the average household hit a record high 118.6 in 2007, but the number actually viewed was only 16, just a fraction more than the 15.7 channels tuned to in 2006, the 15.4 channels tuned to in 2005 or the 15 channels tuned to in 2004.

It’s certainly an argument for a la carte programming, something the cable companies will never go for. But the wider implication for marketers is the reality that while we increasingly hear about media fragmentation and “all the places” a brand needs to be in order to have an “integrated” presence, consumer attention has its limits.


One could say that the lower percentage of channels watched is related to the shift to online entertainment options, but the number of folks going online for entertainment, though growing, is still rather small. Likewise, several studies show that the time spent watching TV hasn’t dropped, at least not in any significant way. So the opportunity to watch more is there. Evidently, the desire is not.

Casual Everyday

After 60 years, the Men's Dress Furnishings Association, the trade group that represents American tie makers, shut down this week. The reasons are pretty obvious: most men simply don’t wear ties anymore.

Association members now number just 25, down from 120 during the 1980s power-tie era, and according to a recent Gallup Poll, the number of men who wore ties every day to work last year dropped to a record low of 6%, down from 10% in 2002.

Of course, Father's Day this month means lots of dads will be adding yet another unused tie to their collections, but the future of neckties is shaky at best.

The more casual approach to work wear certainly plays to the hands of active and casual apparel companies, but in some ways it’s said to say goodbye to this long-standing symbol of manliness and formality. As the song goes: “Every girl’s crazy about a sharp-dressed man.”