By Camilla Lombard
YNOT – Is it time for the sex-toy industry to “go green?” Some manufacturers already have, and others are introducing Earth-friendly items as quickly as they can.
How do customers view sustainability efforts? Good Vibrations asked, and our customers were happy to answer. Our survey rated several elements about consumers’ attitudes about sustainability when they shopped for sex toys and products.
While customers generally care about greening their bedrooms, according to their responses, taking care of their own and their partners’ health is their highest priority: 90 percent rated body-safe material as important, and a full 68.9 percent rated this element of product choice 10 on a scale from 1-10 (with 10 representing the highest level of importance). Almost as important is the effect the purchase will have on their pocketbook: 81.7 percent of respondents agreed that affordable pricing was an important factor for them.
The survey did not indicate whether respondents were vegan, but it did reveal that 64.8 percent want their adult products to be free of animal products. 27.7 percent gave this a 10 for highest priority. For 16.7, a product made with natural ingredients was most important, with 57.3 overall agreeing that this is important to them.
Rechargeable vibrators were rated as important by 53.8 percent, while recyclable packaging and/or materials were prioritized by 41.6 percent. Not as many respondents considered a product’s origin to be highly important; we sought to weigh consumers’ response to an item’s carbon footprint based on whether or not it was imported, but that may not have been clear to those survey participants who rated Made in the USA at 39.9 percent, with a full fifth of the respondents giving this factor just a 1 out of 10 rating.
Most had never bought a disposable sex toy or what they understood to be an eco-friendly vibrator, and although almost 80 percent buy organic groceries at least sometimes, most participants have not purchased organic lubricant.
Finally, whether or not a product is green, brand reputation has begun to mean the most to a significant 70.6 percent of our consumers who answered the survey.
Dr. Carol Queen, Good Vibrations’ staff sexologist and company spokesperson, explained the importance of greening the bedroom.
“Sex is part of our lives, so any issue that concerns us out of the bedroom has implications inside it,” she said. “If we recycle, buy local produce, watch our carbon use and think ecologically in other ways, it makes sense to do the same when we make sexual choices.”
Camilla Lombard is events and publicity manager for San Francisco-based Good Vibrations, a prominent adult products retailer trusted by women, men and couples since 1977. The company provides high-quality products, education and information as part of a corporate goal to promote sexual health, pleasure and empowerment. Good Vibrations takes pride in maintaining clean, well-lit stores that offer safe, welcoming environments where customers can shop for sex toys, books and movies and attend workshops. The company’s earth-friendly ecorotic® collection includes vibes, lubes and other Earth-friendly items from variety of manufacturers, selected based on the products’ composition of all-natural and organic materials or the manufacturers’ adherence to guidelines that reduce environmental impact.
