For marketers, the focus this Thanksgiving was on Black Friday. Or should we call it Black Thursday? For the first time, some stores started their sales Thanksgiving night. Thousands of Americans skipped Thanksgiving dinner to wait in line for “once in a lifetime” deals, only to learn that the most coveted items were limited to as few as two per store. 

If there’s one mantra I repeat over and over, it’s “Don’t preach to the deep green choir.”

By now, you’ve probably read some marketing and sustainability trend forecasts for 2011. Why another? Because there’s not another one out there exactly like this one!

If you’re a marketer of “green,” “eco-friendly,” “natural,” “sustainable,” or “organic” products, today’s date – December 10, 2010 – should be circled on your calendar.

Seventh Generation has announced on its blog, Twitter stream and FaceBook page that “co-founder Jeffrey Hollender’s employment relationship with the company has ended.”

Back in March, I sat down with Jeffrey Hollender, the man who built Seventh Generation into one of the most successful sustainable brands in the world, and his hand-picked successor, new CEO Chuck Maniscalco, formerly of PepsiCo.

When I attended GreenFest three years ago, it was my first close look at sustainable businesses in action. The exhibitors at GreenFest ’08 – the organizers’ fifth expo – tended to be small eco-entrepreneurs selling upcycled jewelry, fairtrade clothing, and organic food and personal care products.