The "Green is the New Black" meme officially hit full stride this week with this article in the IHT:

When Earth Day reaches its 35th anniversary Saturday, it will have one small success to celebrate. The fashion industry, built on constant change and quick turnover, is taking a longer view. You no longer have to be an eco-warrior or a hippie to grasp the message. For the cool and stylish, green is the new black.

(via BenettonTalk)

It's great to see coverage spreading. But I feel like the catch-phrase is taking us back a step or two. It becomes easier to discredit the movement as a fad when it is spoken of using the language of fads. (Note, I'm using fad, not trend)

"Green is the new black" has been used as a prominent campaign headline for the now-defunct Organic Style magazing and is often the phrase Chris Hacker, formerly of Aveda now Johnson & Johnson, would use to open/close talks that covered his inroads to sustainable progress in corporate environments.

It's past it's prime and does us more of a disservice than service.

Green is the new everything. Green is the new world. Is there a better way we can say this? We need something press can latch on to that doesn't associate growing interest with a fad.

Posted by: Randy J. Hunt on April 20, 2006 4:08 PM

'Green grows from black'?
(as in a nice rich loam)

Posted by: Tony Fisk on April 20, 2006 6:39 PM

Umm. The 35th anniversary was last year. The first Earth Day was in 1970. Sorry you missed it. This Saturday is the six squared or double chai (life in Hebrew numerology) anniversary. Hope you enjoy it!

Posted by: Ben on April 20, 2006 6:41 PM

I agree that "green is the new everything". I'm happy to see that people are becoming more earth conscious. Blogs like these certainly help to spread the word!

Posted by: Maria Palma on April 26, 2006 12:00 AM