Just what does ‘Green’ mean
”
Greenwashing.
”
I’d never heard the word before, but an e-mail from a friend on
the staff at Pinnacles National Monument proved quite an
eye-opener.
”
Greenwashing
”
is the practice of misleading consumers about the practices of a
company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
Just what does ‘Green’ mean
“Greenwashing.”
I’d never heard the word before, but an e-mail from a friend on the staff at Pinnacles National Monument proved quite an eye-opener. “Greenwashing” is the practice of misleading consumers about the practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
More simply, it is the practice of preying on consumers’ altruism.
And apparently, it’s quite widespread. According to the account, which was originally taken from the King County Environmental Purchasing Bulletin, a study of 1,018 products trumpeting “green” virtues found that all but one was marketed with false or misleading claims. The products were found in big box stores.
According to TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, which manages an ecology logo program, there are six “sins of greenwashing:”
– The sin of a hidden tradeoff, like electronics that tout energy efficiency but ignore toxic concerns;
– The sin of no proof – no certifiable verification of claims;
– The sin of vagueness, like meaningless claims of “all natural;”
– The sin of irrelevance – products claiming to be CFC-free even though CFCs have long been banned;
– The sin of lying – outright false claims;
– The sin of the lesser of two evils, like organic cigarettes.
There are things we all can do.
The simplest is to bring a little skepticism to the store with you. Watch out for meaningless claims, like “all natural,” or “environmentally friendly.”
There are companies that truthfully represent their environmental attributes, and we can vote with our dollars.
Some labeling is useful, particularly those indicating the product has been certified by an independent organization that examines all its attributes throughout the product’s lifetime.
Green Seal and EcoLogo are two. Green-e and Energy Star are similar for electronic devices.
There are more, and the Consumers Union – the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine – has put together a useful tool available online at http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1.
In other news
For sale: one push reel mower, cheap.
After much hesitation, discussion and procrastination, we sallied forth under a drizzly sky last Saturday and murdered our lawn.
For most of us, lawns are just dumb, the corner of the garden that can demand the most input in terms of time, fertilizer and water for the least return. Right now the front yard looks a lot like Omaha Beach the day after D-Day, but slaying the green monster just feels so darn good.
The hoped-for end result is a space that invites sitting, is more attractive and uses much less water. Sounds like good news all around to me.
