I have always had a weak spot for Target [0], but since I’ve become a bit more aware, and since Georgia has become more difficult in stores designed to lure her into a consumer-kid-frenzy, we just don’t go there anymore. I always found it very hard to resist some fabulous-looking thingamajigg when all I really needed was toilet paper. And since I am trying to teach Georgia about need vs. want, and how stores, ads and marketing are targeting us, I find it much easier to avoid a store that manages to snare me every time!

So when I found out that Target is now selling Seventh Generation [1] products, my first thought was, “Cool! I can go to Target again!” Followed immediately by “Wait a minute! They almost got me again!” True, I suspect Seventh Generation products will be cheaper at Target than at my beloved, expensive, green-leaning local grocery store, but I surely will end up spending more on things I absolutely do not need, rendering the savings moot.

I had an argument with a pal who insists that Seventh Generation should not have their products at Target at all — it’s a sell-out, and they should suffer the wrath of the true environmentalists who got them where they are. Which left me wondering if ecologically-minded products should be harder to come by. A greener lifestyle is not the easiest life to choose, so what happens when products that make our greener lives easier become available to the masses?

While I do think it’s important to shop locally, and continue to support the companies who brought green products to us in the first place (our own Gaiam [2] for one), it’s not a bad thing to have green products in a place that caters mainly to people who aren’t accustomed to thinking sustainably. I don’t think green companies should have to toil away in relative obscurity to remain pure. And I know there is a lot of greenwashing [2] to be wary of, and that huge conglomerates are not turning the green tide because they have had a change of heart. They have million-dollar marketing teams demographing every subculture; they know that lots of people are looking for greener choices, or organic [2] or fair trade [2] or toxin-free choices. And they want that green money.

And frankly, I don’t think your average shopper driving her SUV to Target cares that much. But having the choices in front of her face is a first step. I remember, long before Georgia was born, shopping at the tiny health food store in Manhattan and seeing Seventh Generation toilet paper for the first time. I had never really thought about toilet paper before, but I grabbed an individually paper-wrapped roll and read the copy on the side. I didn’t know about the hazards of dioxin bleaching back then, and I learned a lot from that TP roll! I also first experienced the feeling of making a difference by just buying toilet paper. It mattered, in a tiny, humble way. And it helped me start paying attention. So now I obsess about ingredients and where things come from, and how my purchase affects the world. It’s exhausting, and it might be nice to be oblivious, but if having green products in big stores sparks more people to pay attention, and to care, then it will, ultimately, make my life easier. If more people start putting their money into greener products and organic foods won’t the bar be raised for the good of everyone?

I am ever the optimist, so I think the answer is yes. What do you think?