September 1974 was a memorable month for me. Nixon got a pardon, everyone was talking about the price of gas, and I started school. The one-room schoolhouse across the field from my rural home in Winsloe, Prince Edward Island, had just been closed so I was among the first cohort to be loaded onto a big orange bus for the four-mile ride into Charlottetown, the capital, to the brand new consolidated school.

Ever since January 2010, when green marketing was proven to be a trend by the Center for Media Research, critics have emerged from both sides of the spectrum, declaring green marketing's imminent doom.

Tom's of Maine can make the toothpaste more natural, but it can't force consumers to turn the water off when they brush. Coke can make the bottles recyclable, but only consumers can drop them in the blue bin. Sun Chips can make the bags compostable, but only consumers can see that they get to a composting pile instead of a trash can

You hear a lot of talk about the "sin of the hidden trade-offs." I've got news for you, folks. Greening -- like life itself -- is all about the trade-offs! No product is 100% "green." So, considering that all products use energy and create waste, green is a relative term. One product is green-er for someone at some time in some place.

Arctic communities are ready to act on climate change and energy issues.

Its new campaign suggests that Nissan's marketing team is on a vertical learning curve, and in my estimation, represents some of the sharpest green marketing smarts around today.

Greater effort should be made to place the blame squarely where it belongs: on the lying perpetrators. Unsubstantiated claims, blanket statements about an entirely ethical sector, and claims that consumers are hapless dupes or reactionary divas should be kicked to the curb.

When a story is told with truth, it is shared with confidence and credibility. The positives and negatives, accomplishments and failures provide inspiration to others. Tell the stories behind the most meaningful activities and connect them to the overall green vision and strategy.

If your CEO comes to you and says, "I want to add a green component" to our product or service, run screaming. If s/he wants to change the company to fully embrace a green or social change mission, the sky is the limit.

These kinds of symbols and triggers do exist for every community; we just need to discover them, be open to them and allow our broad-based green marketing programs to incorporate them. It is possible to have a state-wide marketing goal that has unique local characteristics. In fact, these days, it is actually critical.