(Nan’s Note: To me, ‘green’ is holistic. It is a world view of taking care of yourself, people and the planet. We don’t want to harm or destroy any of them, and we want to live authentically and honestly. Greenwashing, in my book, is advertising contrary to those ideals, propaganda, if you will, in order to boost sales. Corporations are jumping on the green bandwagon to boost their bottom line, and they don’t care what they say, or what they omit, in order to do so. That said, here is Triple Pundit’s Top Five Greenwash Posts of 2009.)
By Ashwin Seshagiri
Dear Readers,
Triple Pundit has had a heck of a year. With your help we’ve grown to be one of the most widely read online publications about sustainable business, brought in many new contributors, and helped stoke the fires of a new, green economy in many new places. We hope you’ve had a great time reading and engaging with us and we’re ready to kick of January with a lot of new features, partnerships, and content.
To celebrate the end of the year, our crack team of editors has put together a few top-five lists for the year, including this one…the top five greenwash stories of 2009.
(Nan’s Note: ‘Going green’ is popular. So popular, in fact, that businesses see it as profitable and have jumped on the band wagon to boost their bottom line. Some of them will say anything to make you believe they are sustainable, some are simply uneducated, which is just as dangerous, and some must have paid someone to make them look very, very sustainable. They are greenwashing by appealing to consumers less educated than they are, so don’t be one of them!
How do you know if what you are being told is true or if it is greenwashing? Do your homework! There is plenty of information on the internet about what is truly sustainable and what is not. Question claims by major corporations of their green-ness. Find out where they get their materials or their products. Find out how they treat their employees. Find out if their carbon footprints and if they are doing anything to cut their emissions. Know what’s good for the planet and what is not. The following examples are blatant greenwashing, so bad, they are humorous. If you think any of these businesses are selling green, you need to keep studying.)
When companies like Exxon-Mobil and McDonalds think “green,” they’re thinking of cash, not the earth. And after all, what matters to unscrupulous marketers isn’t so much the reality of their brand or product, but how the public perceives it – which often results in greenwashing so absurd, it’s almost funny.
These 15 examples of extreme greenwashing range from woefully ignorant to downright malicious.
Find them in the article at Alternet.
