At the annual conference last week of businesses grouped in LOHAS -- Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability -- entrepreneurs took cues from some of the biggest names in business, like the Ford Motor Co. , cosmetics company Aveda and Internet pioneer Steve Case, co-founder of America Online, now part of Time Warner Inc.

"My hope is that 10 to 20 years from now, there won't be a need for LOHAS conferences," said Case, who has bounced back from AOL's much maligned merger with Time Warner to start Revolution Living, investing in wellness, resorts and health care.

Case said he has learned that the sustainable product has to taste and look good for it to survive. An organic food company he invested in failed because the food didn't taste good and he bought a hybrid car only last year because it was the first that he thought did not look "dorky."

Ford was at the conference touting its Escape Hybrid, which sold more than 2,100 units in April, the highest for any month since the SUV's launch.

"Customers said: 'I don't want to give up space, capability, and I don't want a a strange-looking vehicle. Give me a mainstream vehicle with a hybrid power train,"' said Christine Biondi, marketing manager for the Escape.

Biondi said Ford has "hit the early adopters" -- the first buyers of the vehicle -- and is moving on to educating consumers on the benefits of the hybrid, which costs about US$3,200 more than the conventional model.

'NOTHING 100 PERCENT SUSTAINABLE'

LOHAS research shows that the United States is home to 36 million consumers, or 17 percent of the total, who wholeheartedly embrace sustainable and healthy goods and services.

Some 21 percent of consumers are labeled as "unconcerned" and cannot be won over. But everyone in between can potentially consume sustainable products and services -- a market estimated at US$230 billion.

Aveda President Dominique Conseil said he has discovered that his customer base is "not thinking conventionally" and 56 percent of customers are aware of the Aveda Mission, which centers on "caring for the world we live in."

So when Aveda launched refillable lipstick to reduce the amount of plastic used on lipstick cases, Aveda said the response was better than expected.

"Consumers bought not only one case for three lipsticks, they bought one for six," said Conseil. "The initial goal was more than achieved."

Technology is key to winning over the mainstream. Canadian apparel maker Naturally Advanced Technologies believes that it has made a breakthrough with a new system to process hemp into a soft fiber, with funding from the Canadian government.

"No one wanted to wear a potato sack," said founder Jason Finnis, remembering his first hemp shirts 12 years ago.

He can now also make a soft, pink camisole from soybean cake -- the waste after crushing.

Between yoga warm-ups and aromatherapy breaks, conference participants talked of companies proving "authenticity" to reach the mainstream rather than "green washing" their practices to win over consumers.

"Nothing is 100 percent sustainable," said Michael Crooke, former CEO of outdoor clothing company Patagonia Inc. and now CEO at Case's Revolution Living.