Greenwashing
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in EnvironmentGreen (i.e. environmentally friendly) products are no longer on the fringes of consumer options. They’re mainstream. In fact, “being green” has turned into such a marketing plus that companies are using green language to promote products that aren’t at all environmentally sound. As a result, consumer groups and government bodies are working to combat fraudulent greenness.
How can you tell if your “green” product isn’t green at all? You can begin by being aware of the six sins of greenwashing (how long before greenwashing makes the dictionaries?). Those sins are pretty obvious when you think about them. They all deal with either deceptive claims or hidden tradeoffs/consequences.
For example, terms like “non-toxic,” “all-natural” and “chemical-free” are meaningless without clarification. Everything is natural. Also, in many product categories “going green” is of little or marginal benefit. Organic cigarettes don’t really pollute the air any less than regular ones and green lawn-care chemicals are still bad for the environment.
For those who want to make environmentally sound consumer decisions, understanding what is and what really isn’t beneficial is of great importance. Green consumers should take the time to make sure they really understand the products they’re buying.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:32 am
The percent of the time when one is correct simply by assuming its bullshit is shockingly high, whether it comes to products, programs, or political cajoling.
Remember, we’re talking about marketing here. These folks are eager to find ways to make you pay more for the same old thing, pay more for less, or pay more for something inferior that can be produced at a lower cost.
Watch out for the environmental equivalent of a marketer advertising that marshmallows are fat free. Pay attention when a restaurant, employer, or service provider makes changes that they say are green, but the only ones they are willing to make are, surprise surprise, ones that also happen to save them money.
Further notice that every time someone suggest that sacrifices need to be made, they’ll be suggesting that it’s a good idea for someone else, especially we the consumers. I money, and in time. We’ll pay for deposit bottles, our town will pay for curbside recycling regardless of whether the material becomes a valuable resource, we’ll pay for disposal of batteries, CRTs, and so on. We’ll pay higher prices for amped up state car inspections that enrich repair shops without substantially improving air quality.