Honestly I haven’t a clue what exactly “Greenwashing” is and I don’t think many people do. I’ve heard companies labeled “greenwashers” because of the products they create or use or way they make things. I’ve heard Clorox be called “greenwashers” because of their green line of cleaning products. Lexus was called a
“greenwasher” because the Hybrid they came out with gets something like 2 mpg better then the regular version.
I get that some companies are jumping on and using the word green as a marketing ploy. Clorox has put out a green range of cleaners that many organizations have gotten behind. Organizations that have been green long before most of the people handing out these labels have been.
What do you think “Greenwashing” is and who do you think is the worse offender when it comes to your definition?
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August 11th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Great subject and so prominent today!
Well my definition of greenwashing is any product that that attempts to be “healthy” or “environmentally friendly” but really isn’t. (I know the definition should be more exclusive to the environment rather than the health part, but I can’t help to think that the two should go together)
Also greenwashing is well applied to companies who mostly create unfriendly products where the Earth is concerned and then come out with one so called “green” product and think they are angels and all is well.
In the case of Lexus, an improvement is great, but for today’s technology and Earth crisis, it simply isn’t enough. We know the technology is out there to do better, so no excuses. You can’t make a tiny improvement and claim it is all of a sudden “green”. At this point the Earth needs so much more and faster.
I can’t say who the worst offender is as there are many companies who have a product or two that is a disgrace to call “green”.
My beef with Clorox for example is that great, so you have made an improvement and created the Green Works line, but it is still not healthy for consumers and, and here is the big one, if you really care about the environment than stop creating the 99% other products that damage it.
I wrote a lot more on this specifically in the following two articles:
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/61/clorox-green-worksnot-so-green-for-your-health/
and
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/72/maybe-natural-means-toxic-today-the-clorox-green-works-update/
Evitas last blog post..Local Organic Farm Food
September 18th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I’m with Evita, who broke it down quite nicely! It’s not only a matter of a particular product being “green” or not, but the ethics of the company making the product. Greenwashed companies often sustain practices that harm the Earth, & claim to be green only to cash in on the trendiness of greening. It’s not only sleazy, but dangerous — the consumer gets lulled into thinking we’re promoting change by buying their product.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Christine: Those are the worst kind of companies Christine, but the big companies who were doing things before and are coming out with new green products shouldn’t be punished and lumped in with companies who lie about what and how their products are made.
Thanks for coming by Christine I’m always glad to see new faces. I love the websites they’re looking good.