With environmental issues making front-page news and Al Gore winning the Nobel Prize, does the ‘G’ in HGTV now stand for green?

‘No,’ laughs Anna Gecan, VP content. ‘It stands for gardening.’

Gecan becomes quite serious, however, as she discusses Matt James’s Eco Eden, a British gardening show in HGTV’s new Green Space program block, scheduled to bow on Sunday, Jan. 6.

The new two-hour green block (airing at 7 p.m. ET), will also feature Australia’s family show Eco House Challenge, the BBC’s dramatic No Waste Like Home and the American environmental docu-soap Living with Ed, starring Ed Begley, Jr. – the self-styled ‘greenest man in Hollywood.’

The block has been positioned in a family timeslot and replaces repeats. Green shows are expected to draw 50,000-plus viewers, according to Gecan.

‘HGTV isn’t just about bricks-and-mortar property shows – it’s about ways of living,’ Gecan explains. ‘Our viewers are craving information about green options. Some other broadcasters see ‘green’ as a middle-class issue, but I think there’s a greater sensibility around stewardship of the planet.’

Gecan is convinced the green movement has finally arrived, and she has faith in women’s leadership to implement changes at home.

HGTV draws its audience primarily from women aged 25 to 54 (mainly living in suburbs), and the VP is confident that everyone in that demo ‘will make the environmental choice now if it’s easy and costs the same.’

But when the station first became interested in creating a green block a year ago, everything ‘felt a bit earnest,’ Gecan acknowledges.

‘It wasn’t packaged in our style,’ Gecan explains, meaning dramatic and entertaining. ‘We had to wait to find the kind of shows we wanted to acquire.’ To her satisfaction, ‘we have a critical mass now.’

The four shows in The Green Space are breezy, funny and audience-friendly.

Begley and his wife Rachelle (whose favorite line is ‘You should try living with Ed’) are clearly having a good time sparring with each other while being environmentally conscious.

Eco Eden has the advantage of a charismatic lead, Matt James, who takes viewers though beautiful ‘green’ gardens.

In contrast, No Waste Like Home tries a ‘shock value’ approach, with host Penney Poyzer effectively scaring people to shift their thinking on the environment.

Eco House Challenge uses a competitive structure, dramatizing two families that are trying to become ‘greener.’

Gecan is pleased to report that HGTV has commissioned two Canadian green shows – one due to broadcast in spring 2008, with the other ready later in the year.

World’s Most Green Homes (working title) ‘is meant to be green property porn,’ according to Gecan, noting it’s a Cineflix production commissioned with the new U.S. station Discovery Planet Green. The show will resemble the hit World’s Most Extreme Homes, but will be environmentally friendly.

‘My only condition was there would be no wormeries, no backyard composting systems,’ says Gecan. ‘We want our show to be really sexy, with houses that are fantastic.’

The second program, The Green Room, is in development with Vancouver’s Omni Film Productions. Gecan won’t reveal names, but says that Omni is on the verge of signing a ‘well-known name’ to host the show, ‘which will take a room in a house and redesign it to make it green.’

For Earth Day in late April, HGTV plans a marathon of green shows. ‘Many of our regular series will be doing a green special,’ reports Gecan. ‘The whole weekend will be devoted to getting the green message across in an entertaining way.’