Co-Op America, one of the groups I’ve belonged to for the last three years, announced last week that they’re changing their name to “Green America.” According to the organization:

 

When our founders chose the name Co-op America for this mission 25 years ago, before the language of ‘green’ emerged, cooperation seemed to be the way to express the deep, holistic ideas for the shift our society needed to make.

The name turned out to be a mixed blessing. While our members understand it and feel connected to our name, those who don’t know us are often confused by the name, thinking that we are a food or housing cooperative. But our mission is exactly the right one – and the work of our organization has changed – and will continue to change – the way America does business.

Fair enough. The term “Co-Op” does bring to mind food co-ops, farm shares, and hippies. All good things, but not necessarily indicative of what the organization does: aligning consumers with companies that do business ethically, and alerting them to those that don’t.

That said, “Green America?” Aside from the fact that it’s completely generic, the term “green” has so many competing connotations these days that the minute you say it, the average person will still be confused. What does “green” mean, exactly? The statement even mentions this, if in a haphazard way:

We’ve won the first round.  The rest of the country is convinced that they have to go green. But even with all the green talk, most people and businesses are just getting started.   People finally get that they need to look beyond the bottom line.  So now let’s make sure that we define what that means.  Together, let’s make sure that it is the full, deep, holistic, inclusive vision of green.  Let’s define and own green – and get everyone involved.  Hence Green America.  Let’s step into our full power.

My other issue with the use of “Green America” is that it downplays all the other work that Co-Op America does in favor of the ubiquitous “green” buzzword, usually used to convey “good for the environment.” As in “change your lightbulbs.” As in “this phrase is meaningless and marketing-driven.”

I’m all for a name-change if it’s warranted; but if you’re going to take a leap that big, at least make sure it’s worth it.