While slow to take off, the idea of recycling has awakened the nation to the need to reprocess and reuse materials that we dismiss from our minds when finished using them. For many who grew up with a regular habit of returning bottles to collect deposits, the emergence of recycling is not entirely new.

Up till now, most consumers have been fans of green initiatives but they have operated under two general rules that limit their acceptance of environmentally sustainable products.

Drivers are beginning to put less mileage on their cars by making fewer and shorter trips. They are also keeping their cars longer. While few, if any, Americans have decided to do without cars, less is becoming a guiding spirit for many motorists: less driving, less replacement, and even, perhaps, less traffic on the roads.

Nowhere is the freedom that we enjoy as Americans expressed more than in election campaigns. Our campaigns are long, beginning with primaries, and hard-fought. The current campaign

Consumer demand for environmentally responsible (“green”) products and services continues to increase, and manufacturers, retailers and service providers are leaping onto the green bandwagon. A number of issues surrounding consumers’ attitudes towards green products remain unclear, however.