With the advent of spring, every company seems to be throwing its tentacles out grasping at consumer dollars. Haven't we all seen the new Green Works line from Clorox appearing on shelves lately? (I'm not the only one who's not jumping out of their chair to buy it.)
The keywords marketers think will get your hard-earned dough?
Green. Natural. Healthy. Environmentally friendly. Safer. Family. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Hmmm. Let's touch on a new word, Workerettes: "greenwashing".
According to Wikipedia, greenwashing is "the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service." It can also be used to describe PR from companies who are trying to look as though they are adopting practices that benefit the environment.
For an excellent take on the matter - why companies greenwash and the various levels (or "six sins") of greenwashing - check out this article from Fast Company by Grist's own David Roberts.
To be blunt, two sentences say it all:
How can most products avoid the sin of the hidden trade-off? With a simple label: "You don't really need this."
Oh, so very true. If we really want to green our lives, we need to think about buying used products, recycling or passing down the products we own already, and simply doing like our forefathers (and foremothers) did: doing without.
Something tells me our consumer society isn't quite ready to jump on that green bandwagon though....
Thank you! The amount of greenwashing I see drives me nuts. "Natural" is too easy a claim to make. I've gotten into the habit of making most of my own cleaners rather than buying (vinegar and baking soda clean almost anything!), which saves money and takes care of any questions of toxicity.
Posted by: Stephanie | April 10, 2008 4:38 PM | Permalink to Comment