Winners of Eco-Chic Campaign Promote "Green" Efforts

With a tagline the "Wright Plant at the Wright Time," Sylvia Hoehns Wright and Doug Hensel created the winning campaign in the "Turning America from Eco-Weak to Eco-Chic" contest sponsored by Hines Horticulture, Project EverGreen and Today's Garden Center magazine.

They are also the lucky recipients of the $1,000 cash grand prize courtesy of Hines Horticulture. The purpose of the campaign was to educate and remind customers about the ecological benefits of green spaces by creating an in-store display and promotional materials with tangible steps for customers to become "eco-chic."

Wright of The Wright Scoop and Hensel, president of the Great Big Greenhouse (GBG), kicked off their efforts with an eco-chic display at GBG's located in Midlothian, Va. Next, the team launched an eco-education campaign to get customers involved through efforts including:

-Writing a column for their hometown web site, www.Richmond.com
-Conducting seminars at the Great Big Greenhouse
-Promoting the effort through their newsletters and on in-store signage and literature
-Local public relations efforts to announce the program 

"Sylvia and Doug's entry embodies every aspect of the consumer education campaign we hoped to inspire," said Den Gardner, executive director of Project EverGreen. "The eco-chic display they created is a permanent fixture that will change as seasonal plants vary in bloom and texture. The judges were impressed with their ongoing efforts to teach their customers."  

Wright and Hensel's "Eco-Chic" campaign targets both experienced or novice homeowners and strives to help them create landscapes and gardens with a "waste not and want not" ecological commitment. The permanent display showcases the environmental contributions plants can make in any style of garden, and helps homeowners select plants using these criteria as well as based on their structure, texture and color.

For more information about Project EverGreen and to view photos of the winning entry, visit www.projectevergreen.com