Is big business doing enough for the environment? How about the federal government? How about you… have you bought any green products lately? These are just a few of the questions the newly-launched Green Confidence Index asks to a group of 2,500 Americans each month. Created by GreenBiz.com, Earthsense, and Survey Sampling International, the Index aims to provide the green sector with regularly-updated information on American attitudes towards environmental responsibility… and insights into how those attitudes translate into purchasing decisions.

Surveys on business and the environment aren’t particularly new — the first one on consumers’ willingness to purchase green products came out in 1989 — but the people behind the Green Confidence Index aim to provide more than just snapshots. GreenBiz.com executive editor Joel Makower believes that “By surveying monthly, the Green Confidence Index will reveal real-time shifts and nuances marketers don’t usually see.” Amy Heberd, Chief Research Officer at Earthsense observes:

Manufacturers and retailers are increasingly aware of ‘the green gap,’ where consumers’ behaviors and purchases often lag behind intentions, due in part to marketplace confusion about what makes products green… As better information and clearer standards evolve, the Green Confidence Index will be a valuable monitor of progress in communications and how this translates into buying decisions.

The questions used to survey participants are divided into three sections:

• Responsibility: how leaders and institutions are perceived to be addressing environmental issues (weight: 40%)
• Information: the adequacy of information available to make informed decisions (20%)
• Purchasing: past and future purchases of green products (40%)

The Index’s first survey revealed that

• “American consumers are ready to increase their purchases of environmental products and services as the U.S. economy emerges from recession, though premium prices for green goods remain a barrier for many.”
• Clorox and Wal-Mart were the two companies named most in response to the question “What company, if any, do you think of as being ‘green’?”
• Americans prefer to get their information about corporate environmental responsibility, and green products, from friends, relatives, and colleagues; corporate blogs and websites were cited as the least-trusted source of information.

It will be interesting to see in what direction these opinions head as the economy (hopefully) warms up in the coming months. GreenBiz will publish top-level findings from each month’s survey; subscribers will receive more in-depth data, as well as monthly briefing documents and quarterly reports spotlighting select trends and demographics. Subscriptions costs $499 annually; charter subscriptions at $299 are available through December 31st, 2009.

You can get a sneak peak at the first data set through a sample issue… check it out, and let us know what you think.

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog. Follow him on Twitter @sustainablog