Consumers Rattled by 'Green Overload'

Inundated with reports on how best to save the environment, many consumers are left confused and suffering from an information overload the New York Times dubs “green noise.” Many eco-facts are contradictory and options are puzzling (is it better, for example, to get a used car, or a hybrid?). Environmental groups worry that too much green noise could stop people from paying attention at all.

“What we’ve been seeing in focus groups is a real green backlash,” said one analyst, who reports that when study groups screen eco-friendly advertisements,  “half the room roll their eyes." (More environment stories.)