Greenwash

Greenwash (a portmanteau of "green" and "whitewash") is a term used to describe the perception of consumers that they are being misled by a company regarding the environmental practices of the company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. [http://www.terrachoice.com/Home/Six%20Sins%20of%20Greenwashing Terrachoice.com - Definition of Greenwashing] ] It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations which attempt to appear that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment. [ [http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=209637 LP: 'The biggest environmental crime in history' ] ]

Usage

Greenwashing was coined by suburban NY environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986,in an essay regarding the hotel industry's practice of placing green placards in each room, promoting reuse of guest-towels, ostensibly to "save the environment". Westerveld noted that, in most cases, little or no effort toward waste recycling was being implemented by these institutions, due in part to the lack of cost-cutting affected by such practice.Westerveld opined that the actual objective of this "green campaign" on the part of many hoteliers was, in fact, profit increase.Westerveld hence monikered this and other outwardly environmentally-conscientious acts with a greater, underlying purpose of profit increase as "greenwashing".

The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being "green" (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, for example putting an image of a forest on a bottle containing harmful chemicals. Environmentalists often use "greenwashing" to describe the actions of energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters. [Karliner, Joshua. [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=243 "A Brief History of Greenwash"] , "CorpWatch", March 22 2001. Accessed May 23 2007.]

A commonly cited example of greenwashing is the George W. Bush Clear Skies Initiative, which environmentalists have argued actually weakens air pollution laws. [US Senator Patrick Leahy, on the Senate Floor [http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200404/042604a.html "The Greenwashing of the Bush Anti-Environmental Record on the President's Earth Day Visits to Maine and Florida"] April 26, 2004 Accessed June 29, 2007]

Norway's consumer ombudsman has targeted automakers who claim that their cars are "green", "clean" or "environmentally friendly" with some of the world's strictest advertising guidelines. Consumer Ombudsman official Bente Øverli said: "Cars cannot do anything good for the environment except less damage than others." Manufacturers risk fines if they fail to drop the words. Øverli said she did not know of other countries going so far in cracking down on cars and the environment. [http://www.forbrukerombudet.no/asset/2857/1/2857_1.pdf] [ [http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4028677 Prove 'clean, green' ads, Norway tells automakers] ] [ [http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/norway_says_car.php Greenwash Watch: Norways Says Cars Neither Green Nor Clean] ] [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0671323420070906 Norways Says Cars Neither Green Nor Clean] ]

In addition, the political term "linguistic detoxification" is used by some environmentalists to describe when, through legislation or other government action, the definitions of toxicity for certain substances are changed, or the name of the substance is changed, so that fewer things fall under a particular classification as toxic. An example is the reclassification of some low-level radioactive waste as "beyond regulatory concern", which permits it to be buried in conventional landfills. Another example is the EPA renaming sewage sludge to biosolids, and allowing it to be used as fertilizer, despite the fact that it often contains many hazardous materials including PCBs, dioxin, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and asbestos. The origin of this phrase has been attributed to environmental activist and author Barry Commoner.

Several activities designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be considered merely symbolic greenwash. For example, Earth Hour encourages consumers to switch off electric appliances for 1 hour. This may make people feel good about a minor inconvenience without creating any sustained reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Similarly, introduction of a Carbon Emission Trading Scheme may feel good, but may be counterproductive if the cost of carbon is priced too low, or if large emitters are given 'free credits'. For example, Bank of America subsidiary MBNA offers an Eco-Logique MasterCard for Canadian consumers that rewards customers with carbon offsets as they continue using the card. Customers may feel that they are nullifying their carbon footprint by purchasing polluting goods with the card. However, only .5 percent of purchase price goes into purchasing carbon offsets, while the rest of the interchange fee still goes to the bank. [http://www.climatechangecentral.com/publications/enerclick/january-2008/cashing-environmental-cow "Cashing in on the Environmental Cow" by Climate Change Central] ]

"Six Sins of Greenwashing"

In December 2007, environmental marketing company TerraChoice gained national press coverage for releasing a study called "The Six Sins of Greenwashing," which found that 99% of 1,018 common consumer products randomly surveyed for the study were guilty of greenwashing. According to the study, the six sins of greenwashing are [http://www.enn.com/green_building/article/26388 The Six Sins Of Greenwashing - Misleading Claims Found In Many Products] ] [http://www.terrachoice.com/files/6_sins.pdf The 6 Sins of Greenwashing (PDF)] ] :

* Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: e.g. “Energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials. 998 products and 57% of all environmental claims committed this Sin.

* Sin of No Proof: e.g. Shampoos claiming to be “certified organic,” but with no verifiable certification. 454 products and 26% of environmental claims committed this Sin.

* Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde (see appeal to nature). Seen in 196 products or 11% of environmental claims.

* Sin of Irrelevance: e.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free, even though CFCs were banned 20 years ago. This Sin was seen in 78 products and 4% of environmental claims.

* Sin of Fibbing: e.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo, Energy Star or Green Seal. Found in 10 products or less than 1% of environmental claims.

* Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: e.g. Organic cigarettes or “environmentally friendly” pesticides, This occurred in 17 products or 1% of environmental claims.

See also

*Green brands
*Green marketing

External links

* [http://www.pilmerpr.com/media/08.03.17.Beware-of-Greenwashing.pdf Beware of Greenwashing] - Connect Magazine article by John Pilmer of PilmerPR
*HSW|greenwashing|How Greenwashing Works
* [http://www.futerra.co.uk/services/greenwash-guide The Greenwash Guide] - Avoiding greenwash - developed by sustainability communications agency Futerra
* [http://www.greenwashingindex.com Greenwashing Index] - A site to post and rate green advertising to help consumers identify greenwashing
* [http://thesietch.org/mysietch/keith/2008/04/10/how-to-spot-greenwash How To Spot Greenwash] - Article from The Unsuitablog, an anti-greenwashing blog
* [http://thesietch.org/mysietch/keith/2008/05/14/the-tools-of-greenwashing-1-adverts/ Tools Of Greenwashing: Adverts] - Article from The Unsuitablog, an anti-greenwashing blog
* [http://stopgreenwash.org StopGreenwash.org] View and Rate the Latest Greenwashing Ads
* [http://www.govpro.com/ArticleDraw.aspx?CID=68662&HBC=GlobalSearch&OAS=&NIL=False Beware of Greenwashing: Not All Environmental Claims are Meaningful] - How to avoid being fooled
* [http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=393 Questioning "corporate social responsibility"] - Greenwashing article from London's Southern OnTrack magazine
* [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007931.html Greenwashing in Popular Culture and Art]
* [http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/article.jsp?id=1366 Channel 4 Dispatches - Greenwash] .
* [http://environmentalblogging.org/?p=1130 Are You Being Greenwashed?-the reality of Greenwashing in our society] , documentary presented by George Monbiot.
* [http://www.turnuptheheat.org/ Turn Up The Heat] - Greenwashing critique by George Monbiot
* [http://www.lime.com/blog/savasthi/7189/greenwashing_junk_food_/ Greenwashing Junk Food]
* [http://www.businessethics.ca/greenwashing/ What is Greenwashing, and Why is it a Problem?"]
* [http://www.hudsondredging.com/ Current GE efforts to clean the Hudson]
* [http://achievezero.com/"Rewarding genuine green companies and shaming greenwashers"]
* [http://www.chatsworthcommunications.com/documents/PRESSRELEASEFOOTSIE100GreenWinnersandGreenWasherssurvey.pdf FOOTSIE 100 Green Winners and Green Washers Survey]
* [http://homebuying.about.com/od/marketfactstrends/qt/110707_GrnWsh.htm "What is Green Washing?"] , Greenwashing and the real estate market.
* [http://www.dupontcouncil.org/DuPont_Greenwash-%20An%20Examination%2011%2003%2007.pdf DuPont and Greenwash] "An Examination of the Limits to DuPont's 'Sustainability' Commitments" by United Steelworkers Union 11/03/07
* [http://www.thetripflare.org/water-pollution-story-document/corporate-greenwashing-example.html "Greenwashing and the corporate mind"] .
* [http://ecosyn.us/ecocity/Links/My_Links_Pages/pathogen_safety_01.html Linguistic Detoxification of Sewage Sludge]
* [http://www.natlogic.com/resources/nbl/v01/n06.html Article on misleading wording in public policy]
* [http://blog.pickuppal.com/2008/06/19/greenwashing/ Article on greenwashing with photographic examples from Clorox, Nestle, Swiffer, British Petroleum, Nescafe, Procter & Gamble and more...]

References