Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Dangers and Opportunities: The Future of Greenwash

The phenomenon of “greenwash” can be viewed from various angles. TerraChoice’s “Six Sins of Greenwashing” have become widely circulated and well known. Additionally, three variations on its definition in increasing order of severity are useful—“Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company … to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy” (SourceWatch Encyclopedia). However for a richer understanding of the issues at play it is necessary to consider the direction in which “greenwash” may be heading.

Click here to read the entire article

Friday, March 28, 2008

Greenwash in Geneva?

It is in the founding image of Alternative Channel that we should be encouraged to seek out many and various sources of information in our search for truth. Be aware of biases and vested interests, and go forth.

See what one organization has to report from this month's Geneva Car Show.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

30 April 2008: LIVE BLOG of the Alternative Channel Forum on Social Networking and Responsible Media

30 April 2008. Barcelona. The Alternative Channel Forum on Social Networking and Responsible Media.

http://forum.alternativechannel.tv/en/description.html

The Alternative Channel Forum: 200 participants + guest speakers including Nobel Prize winners, web 2.0 entrepreneurs, journalists, teachers, and activists. Learn how Web 2.0 is changing the way you can make the world a better place.

If you can't make it to Barcelona for the forum, join us for a live blog of the event starting at 9 am Barcelona time (3am Eastern Standard Time) and going all day.

More details to come...

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Greenwash: Nearing its End?

Getty Images' Rebecca Swift believes that time is running out for companies that would "greenwash" their customers in the pursuit of a quick buck.

I have on several occasions voiced concerns that over-use of certain terms and catchphrases can have unintended (and negative) effects.

See here how it may not always be quite that simple.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Greenwash in the Third Degree

Third Degree Greenwash: the unjustified affectation of environmental virtue by an entity “to try and rehabilitate [its] standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy”.

Clearly this extreme third-degree greenwash is the most heinous kind. There is obviously a considerable amount of overlap amongst these three levels of severity. But third-degree greenwash moves beyond the simple illegitimate promotion of an image or product, and uses these tactics expressly in an attempt to greenwash from the public consciousness past instances of violation. Alluding to Monsanto’s legacy of industrial accidents and negligence (and subsequent conversion to biodiversity), we have already indicted Monsanto on this charge (and others).

If one is willing to dig into the past the evidence for the prosecution is quite compelling. In 1947, an explosion of Monsanto ammonium nitrate fertilizer during loading onto a French vessel at Galveston Bay destroyed a Monsanto styrene manufacturing plant on the premises, and much of the port itself. The “Texas City Disaster” is largely considered the worst industrial accident in US history, and carries the largest death toll. During the 1970s, Monsanto became the largest producer of Agent Orange to be utilized in US military operations in Vietnam. For a fuller story regarding Monsanto and its present activities, click here.



Today, on Monsanto’s website, the color green abounds.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Sun Goes Around the World

This man has harnessed our solar system's most inexhaustible source of energy. See how far he plans to take it.



It may be true that the earth revolves around the sun. But we can still take the sun around the world.

Greenwash in the First Degree

In my zealous enthusiasm to indict (and convict—it’s good to have an iron grip on your own judiciary) Lululemon Athletica I delved directly into greenwashing in the second degree. Let’s take a step back for a moment and have a look at first-degree greenwashing.

You will remember that entities engage in first-degree greenwashing to “create a pro-environmental image”. This type of greenwashing surely is closely related to the second-degree manifestation that we have already seen; the difference is that the first-degree sort is part and parcel of a broader public relations effort whereas second-degree greenwashing carries the objective of promoting and selling a particular product or service.

We recognize that many corporations and other entities are in fact investing genuinely in the green revolution. But like second-degree greenwash, first-degree greenwash describes the activities of companies which seek to cash in on the trend of green in the marketplace, without an authentic regard for the preservation of our environment.

In January Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil titan, abandoned its sponsorship of what London’s Sunday Times deems “one of Britain’s most prestigious wildlife photography exhibitions”. Shell, which began the sponsorship in 2006, denied that its decision was influenced by irate protestors who cited its “ambitions in the Arctic and the destruction it causes in areas such as the Alberta tar sands in Canada and the east Siberian island of Sakhalin”. Shell responded by pointing out its relationships with organizations such as the World Conservation Union, the Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Institution and Wetlands International.

I accept the need for continuing (and sustainable) energy exploitation in our world. But hypocrisy is a despicable thing.

Shell: charged with greenwash in the first degree.

This time I am courteous enough to leave the verdict to the jury of my readers.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Greenwash in the Second Degree

Cases show that firms do not usually engage in greenwashing with a specifically malicious intent. As with all firms, those that would greenwash us begin with a standard pursuit of the profit incentive. This can then lead into troubling territory.

Because it is above all this profit motive which is the driver of corporate action, most trespasses of greenwashing occur in the domain of marketing, advertising and promotion. This is, in our definition, greenwashing of the second degree to "sell a product or a policy".

Earlier this month I wrote of an encounter with a young man who was opposed to use of the word "green", and we agreed that it is in danger of becoming a hollow buzzword of popular culture. Ever aware of the changing desires and perceptions of the consumer, marketing operations have built entire campaigns to cash in on the public's growing need to be "green".

Predictably this has often transpired into a public that isn't so green at all. Sadly this is indicative of only one thing: that we live in a culture in which collectively conceived images of trend and fashion all too often trump reality.

We here find Lululemon Athletica GUILTY of greenwash in the second degree. The Vancouver-based outfit has emerged as something of a success story in the retail trade, particulary after its share prices soared following a public offering last summer. Lululemon meets the demand of consumers who spend in excess of fifty dollars for articles of active gear, some, they claim, produced from "organic" inputs.

See one myth debunked by the NY Times.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Greenwashing: Guilty on All Counts?

Greenwashing is "the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization" (source: SourceWatch Encyclopedia). The definition continues to explicitly enumerate three discrete avenues therein: greenwashing to (1) "create a pro-environmental image", (2) "sell a product or a policy", or (3) "to try and rehabilitate [the party's] standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy".

Monsanto: guilty of greenwashing on all three counts?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

“The Six Sins of Greenwashing”

Be skeptical of “green product” labels issued by manufacturers and distributors. Some may be legitimate; many are not. Investigate them. The principal variables are the raw materials of which a product is made and the energy expended to produce it (and to get it to you). Remember, producers of “green products” fail to remind us that we should be consuming less.

These wise words were recently brought to you by a certain esteemed and worthy young blogger whose page you happen to know. In the evolving jargon of the environmental sphere, firms which make such false, dubious or otherwise misleading claims are now guilty of "greenwashing".

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing in November 2007 published what they found through market research to be "The Six Sins of Greenwashing". Be aware.

Click here to see the entire text of their 15-page report (PDF format).

Monday, March 17, 2008

Newsletter: Alternative Channel Forum

Click here for the original Newsletter E-mail

Social networking & responsible media
April 30, 2008 in Barcelona

The Guest of Honor: Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Price Laureate.
Alternative Channel Forum, in collaboration with Iwith.org, will take place in Barcelona, April 30, 2008. The Forum is dedicated to social networking & responsible media and the Guest of Honor is Rigoberta Menchú Tum who was awarded the Nobel Peace Price in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.
Alternative Channel Forum in a few words:

• More than 250 participants are expected on site
  
• 40 lecturers, professionals from the communication and humanitarian sector, responsible companies.
  
• Workshops on videos and Web 2.0 tools
  
• High level partners and sponsors involved in sustainable development
  

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Ten Blogs on Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Causes

This roundup of mine represents a range of discourses, all of them tied up in the sustainability and humanitarian endeavors. Regardless of your particular profession or interests each merits a look.

Click here to read the entire article

Saturday, March 15, 2008

War in Iraq: No End in Sight

He is not the first to paint this picture of the underlying causes which brought America and its allies to war in Iraq, but in an election year Simon Jenkins' articulate criticisms merit the revival and reinvigoration.

Most importantly we must remember that it is millions of Iraqis who continue to pay the price.

Friday, March 14, 2008

The Power to Feed the World? A Tale of Sustainable Development, BioEngineering, and Citizen Activism

Even set against the standards established by today’s behemoths of international trade and commerce, The Monsanto Company is a veritable giant. Since its founding in 1901, Monsanto has advanced through various embodiments, most often as a producer and purveyor of chemicals. Its many mergers and acquisitions have often dramatically altered the scope of its operations, and as the twentieth century came to a close Monsanto began a transition from a chemicals company to a formidable biotechnologies operation. Following this transformation Monsanto has sought to portray itself as a soldier of the sustainability cause; on its homepage a brief description asserts that “We apply innovation… while also reducing agriculture’s impact on our environment.” Monsanto maintains 17,500 employees around the globe, and recorded revenues of US$7.344 billion in 2006. And yet all is not well in the corridors at Monsanto headquarters in Saint Louis.

Click here to read the entire article

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Silent Violence

The human being is a complacent animal.

In a world in which we so willingly fail to address even direct and brutal violence perpetrated against the world's powerless, we must maintain a constant and scathing vigilance if we are to conquer another silent and more insidious form of violence.