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You know, for how easy it really can be to go green, it's ridiculous how much corporate greenwashing occurs these days, and it's gotten large corporations way more credit among potential do-gooders than they deserve.
From oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell to agricultural giants like Monsanto, the effort to put a smiley green face on corporate practices that are not so green continues to fool people who want to support companies making environmentally sound choices, but don't have the time to do background research on every single one.
Take Monsanto, for example: a company that touts its efforts to increase water efficiency in industrial agriculture in order to help feed the world. It has gained a reputation, however, for being a "bully" when it comes to water usage on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where the company does a lot of its research on genetically modified corn--one of the very seeds that is purportedly supposed to save water. During a drought that caused the local irrigation company to cut back the water supply to farmers by 20 percent, Monsanto demanded continued usage and even lobbied for a new aquifer to be tapped.
Or look at Wal-Mart for another, closer-to-home example. The company drew praise in 2005 when it announced a total environmental makeover. It would reduce the amount of packaging it used with the goal of reaching zero waste, and slash the greenhouse pollution emitted from its stores by 20 percent by 2012. The very next year, however, the company's carbon emissions increased by 9 percent, and the tool for measuring its progress on the zero waste goal was only "in development." The majority of the company's campaign contributions also went to support politicians who received failing grades from the League of Conservation Voters.
Greenwashing is all in the image. British Petroleum is perhaps the most famous perpetrator of greenwashing because of its ubiquitous and pretty, nature-loving ad campaigns, all the while its oil operations continue to pollute the planet. Some say that Clorox's GreenWorks brand is a big load of greenwash, since none of Clorox's other products changed in the slightest and the company can continue operating all its other toxic facilities while creating an eco-friendly image for itself.
And Grist argues that by simply being more up front about its history and role in creating the current environmental crisis, General Motors might not be cast as yet another greenwashing company. But when a company actually makes changes to legitimately move in the right (green) direction, it should get credit for that. Like Interface, a carpet manufacturer that made an about-face when its CEO Ray Anderson realized the impact his carpet production was having on the environment and is now one of the world's leaders in sustainability.
Change is possible--but it only counts, and should only count, when it's real.
How do you know if someone is greenwashing?
Do your research of course: look outside the flashy websites of the potential greenwashing company (it's not like they'll have a greenwashing section with a list of environmental infractions) and to sites like TreeHugger.com and its Greenwash Watch articles. As with all advertising and image making, don't assume the information you're getting is complete or unbiased. Offsets or not, a coal company is still producing coal.
Watch the Video: Focus Earth: Greenwash
Find out more on Focus Earth Episode: Behind the Image
Related Posts:
Interface, Ten Years Green
Beyond Petroleum? More Like Big Problem
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