'Greenwashing' the market

The green trend has gone mainstream, even if the only real change is a switch from plastic to cloth packaging. "Ecological items" are all the rage, but they tend to be tokens in the industry: Crocker's winter collection, for example, featured a limited edition of denim pants made from organically grown cotton.

"I don't think there are any big manufacturers in Israel that are seriously promoting the green trend," says Ofer Zik, an industrial designer who heads the Department of Industrial Design at the Holon Institute of Technology. "Some companies are, but the whole process is still in its infancy."

However there are manufacturers whose entire production line is based on environmentally friendly components.

"If you don't believe such change is possible, remember that a few years ago it was very difficult to find organic vegetables, but now they are available all over," says Avi Yacove, who owns Baby Organic, a local company that markets organic products for babies.

Despite the tendency to assume green products are more expensive, it isn't always the case. Sometimes companies subsidize the cost of an organic product, if it is a single item in their catalog of standard products.

"Green thinking can save a company money," says David Specter, a lecturer at Shenkar School of Engineering and Design and owner of the C4 design studio.

"Correct planning and design can sometimes result in a cheaper and simpler manufacturing process or a product that is easier to recycle.

"Environmentally friendly products also create a better branding image, and the company benefits from positive publicity and increased sales. In the long run, this means profits," he concludes.

In Israel, products that are defined as less harmful to the environment are eligible for a green seal of approval from the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Israel Standards Institute, which promotes green consumerism.

The green seal also affords factories a good image and a marketing advantage by opening the way to international markets that have strict environmental standards that not all Israeli manufacturers are able to meet.

"Some companies try to 'greenwash' their products, claiming that they are environmentally friendly even if this is not true, because they figure 'green' is good for marketing and they have to do something , but they're not sure what," says Specter.

"When companies start manufacturing 'ecological' products," says Zik, "they don't always check if the entire process is environmentally friendly, but rather only the final product. I'm not saying that there are no truly ecological products, but companies are becoming more aware of the marketing bonus inherent in saying they are green and keeping up with the trend."

No standard

Unlike European countries, Israel has no manufacturing standard for environmentally friendly products that obligates companies to use or avoid certain manufacturing methods.

In fact, each company does as it sees fit.

There may not be many ecological products on the market, but they do stand out, and there's hardly a product category without some ecological or natural alternative.

TheMarker collected a few examples and checked the price difference between these products and standard ones.