 Author |
 Post
|
 |
|
Jessie
Joined: Feb 21, 2011
Posts: 10 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Province/State: New York
City: Rochester
|
"Greenwashers"
March 5, 2011 - 04:49 PM
|
|
This came up in another thread I posted on. It was kind of off topic so I thought I would change it to a new thread.
Some companies act like they are doing good to the earth and treating their workers fairly. However, a lot of them aren't...being good to the earth is just a new marketing campaign. Check out this article about one of Walmarts jewelry lines.
However some companeis actually are doing good and making an effort to be good to the earth.
What do you think about this? Do you think its good that being good to the earth has become "cool," or are you angry that they don't take it seriously?
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Alexander Dale
Joined: Nov 16, 2009
Posts: 12 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 24
Country: United States
Province/State: Pennsylvania
City: Pittsburgh
|
Re:
March 9, 2011 - 11:24 AM
|
|
Greenwashing by and large annoys me, but it depends on how absurd the claims are. In general, though, I think it’s probably a good sign - if companies are trying to outcompete each other on how green they are, I think (hope) that eventually their claims become more real and/or verified in order to beat the competition.
Would I rather see companies be honest about their products so that only the ones that are truly reducing a significant portion of their footprint show up? Sure. But that’s unlikely to happen, so I’m happy with the interest in environmental impacts - the same is true with cars and the trend towards putting MPG on all the ads.
The related question I have is how well people understand the green labels that are out there - some of which are backed by good science and multiple metrics, some of which... aren’t. How many green labels do you know and trust?
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Sian
Joined: Mar 7, 2011
Posts: 37 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 23
Country: Australia
Province/State: New South Wales
City: Wollongong
|
Re: "Greenwashers"
March 12, 2011 - 01:35 AM
|
|
This is a huge problem within the corporate world and in many cases a deliberate tactic as you know called "greenwashing" to try and adopt a "clean green image" without actually changing much polluting practice or economic processes. This comes about as people have come to accept the realities of climate change and look for environmentally conscious solutions as consumers. One of the most outrageous examples of this which springs to mind is the Nuclear Industry campaigning to sell themselves as a solution to climate change. The very idea that any system which produces ANY waste, particularly hazardous radioactive waste which takes 1600 years to break down could possibly sell itself as "clean and green" is enraging! But Over the last 2 decades they have in fact attempted to do so. As have many other less than "green" companies. This causes the huge problem for consumers of deciphering who is actually "green" and also causes doubt about the true practices of many who ARE actually trying to affect change! Green washing and astro-turfing have been formidable opponents to the environmental movement for as long as we have been in existence. The main aim now is to be more active and vocal than those that would hold us back!
If you are interested in the topic a good place to start would be to look up the work of one Sharon Beder. She went to my university and her book "Global Spin" is all about such impediments to the environmental movement by corporate America and corporate Australia. I will get back to you with some other resources if you like?
also check out www.nuclearspin.org and www.foe.org.au for some examples of corporate spin tactics.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Carol
Joined: May 9, 2011
Posts: 2 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Country: United States
|
Re: "Greenwashers"
June 3, 2011 - 11:49 AM
|
|
Greenwashing is a really tricky topic. I work with a compost group on Governor's Island, NYC. We try to compost all the organic (food waste) at outdoor events. Some of the food vendors spend extra money to buy "compostable" utensils, but the compost education group calls that "greenwashing"--and they don't accept those utensils in compost bins because they take much, much longer than food to break down than food waste, I think the vendors genuinely believe they are doing the right thing.
Also if these compostable utensils enter the landfill they may break down, but I don't know if that's any better for the landfill or not.
So who is doing the greenwashing? The companies that make the compostable utensils and containers? What do others think about this idea.
Carol
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
prieten47
Joined: Oct 26, 2006
Posts: 764 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Blabbermouth
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 53
Country: Japan
Province/State: Hokkaido
City: Sapporo
|
Re: "Greenwashers"
June 6, 2011 - 03:42 AM
|
|
Dear Carol,
It's great to hear from someone at the forefront of environmental business: composting. Composting has always been a favorite topic of mine. I know it takes a long time for things to compost properly, way longer than the time it takes for things to turn brown!
I can't imagine eating utensils that compost well. The Japanese use trillions of disposable wooden chopsticks at restaurants and to eat festival food. I guess wood is compostable, but I suspect the chopsticks end up in the incinerator.
Maybe shredding things would help the composting process, but that takes energy.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
|
Display posts from:
|
Home
Community
