Where green consumerism goes from here will depend a great deal on the ability to unite companies and consumers. The problems described above--the lack of public understanding of the relationship between purchases and environmental impacts, the timidity of companies to make environmentally bold statements and the need for businesses to vastly increase their communication with consumers on environmental topics--can only be solved by a kind of shared vision between producers and their customers.

	Make a Difference
	Betsy Taylor, executive director of Center for a New American Dream, discusses things you can do to improve environmental quality. (1:44 min) Read transcript

In the end, the future will hinge on everyone's ability to improve environmental literacy at all levels, from elementary school to the marketplace. The challenge will be to communicate in a fair, balanced and accurate way the impact of everyday purchases on the environment in a way that will empower, not alienate, consumers. Without such empowerment, the majority of consumers will be doomed to a frustrating and cynical assumption that there is little they can do and it is up to others to solve the planet's woes.

The environmental and social marketplace is a dynamic, living entity and today's marketplaces appear more dynamic than ever. The turn of the century has seen the birth and maturing of new environmental and sustainability issues around which consumers are increasingly being heard. The growing furor over genetically modified organisms, for example, whose marketing often promotes their environmental benefits, points up the double-edge sword of environmental technologies in the era of the triple bottom line: They must do more than merely reduce pollution; they must also improve people's lives. Energy deregulation and the advent of so-called "green power" is another area rife with opportunities for consumers to vote with their dollars. The growing activism against sprawl--and all of the congestion, pollution and loss of green space that comes with it--may represent yet another area in which companies will come under consumer and activist scrutiny.

	Thinking Point
	Do you think green consumerism will affect your purchasing decisions in the future?

On the horizon loom other, increasingly sophisticated, information-based technologies, such as robotics, genetics and nanotechnology. All three bring the promise of dramatic new breakthroughs in food, medicine, communications and other commodities needed for a sustainable world--as well as the potential to wreak havoc on social structure and natural ecosystems. In the coming years, as these technologies' capabilities become commercialized at breakneck speed, the power of consumers in the marketplace will undoubtedly play a role in whether and how these products succeed--and their impact on the environmental and social landscape.